KIRKLAND, Wash. - Senior Claire Ely (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) opened up her senior season in All-American fashion, putting up 29 points and eight rebounds to lead the Puget Sound Loggers to a 70-45 victory over the Northwest Eagles in a non-conference women's basketball game on Monday evening in Kirkland, Wash.

A pair of free throws gave Northwest an early 2-0 lead buy the Loggers then put up nine straight points to take a 9-2 lead just 2:32 into the game.  Puget Sound pushed the lead into double-digits with 10:20 left to play in the first half when a jumper by Ely put the Loggers up 21-10.  The Eagles kept battling but Puget Sound pushed the lead to 15 points heading into the break on a pair of free throws by freshman Val Middleton (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) that gave the Loggers a 37-22 victory.

The Loggers continued to hold off Northwest in the second half, maintaining the double-digit lead for the entire period.  The advantage reached 20 with 5:59 left to play when Ely converted a pair of free throws to give Puget Sound a 61-41 victory.  A jumper by Jocelyn Riordan (Lake Forest Park, Wash./Shoreline) hit a jumper with a minute remaining to put the Loggers ahead by 27 as a pair of NU free throws as the Loggers took the 70-45 season-opening victory.

The Loggers were led by the 29 points and eight rebounds from Ely, who also added two assists, two blocks and three steals in 36 minutes played.  Riordan added 19 points in the first game of her sophomore season while Natasha Ludwig (Hilo, Hawaii/Waiakea) added 10 points and eight rebounds in the win.  Puget Sound was solid on the charity stripe, making 18 of 23 attempts for 78.3%.

Northwest was led by 11 points from Jessica Wilkerson and 10 points from Marielle McKean.  The Eagles struggled a bit from the field, making just 19 of 51 attempts for 37.3%.

The Loggers will be back in action on Thursday evening when they head down to Olympia to take on Evergreen.  Tip-off with the Geoducks is set for 5:30 p.m.