EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Center Emily Gray opened the 2008 home schedule with a bang on Tuesday evening, knocking in a school-record 38 points to give the Northwest Christian University women's basketball team a 94-45 victory over Walla Walla University.

Gray shot 17-for-27 from the field, setting school records for both field goals made and attempted. She also registered a double-double with eleven rebounds while adding three assists, three steals and three blocked shots. Gray credited the play of her teammates for her big night. “We ran through our offensive sets really well tonight,” she said. “We've had trouble in early games but we were able to be successful in our offense with everyone that came in tonight which really helped.”

“Emily played very well tonight,” said Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton. “She can actually play much better than she did tonight. She still needs to know when to take her chances with the turn-and-shoot. She had her patented baseline moves, which were working remarkably tonight, but she doesn't make it as easy on herself as she could.”

The Beacons dominated every facet of the game, shooting 48% in the game while holding the Wolves to a 25.5% clip. NCU out-rebounded Walla Walla 47-39 while forcing a season-high 35 turnovers. 14 players saw at least five minutes of playing time and all but two players scored as the Beacons went deep into the bench. The Northwest Christian reserves scored 37 points in the contest, compared to 25 for their WWU counterparts.

Coach Bolton said, “We wanted to work on a total team effort tonight and we wanted to have everyone contribute both on offense and defense. Our game plan was to play with intensity from baseline-to-baseline and I think we did that very well. With all of our travel we haven't had a full day of practice in about ten days, so we were actually a bit rusty, but we were still able to give some good minutes to everyone.

The Beacons (2-2) also had 12 points and five assists from Elise Gray and Jenneca Crocker came off the bench to score eight points, including a pair of three-pointers early in the game that set the tone. Callie McVicker had her best all-around game of the season, collecting seven points, six steals and five assists. “Callie is really lifting us up right now and giving us a big spark. She comes in with some intensity and speed that we need.”

Walla Walla (0-5) got a big night off the bench from Heather McFadden, scoring 22 points which included a 9-for-10 effort at the free-throw line. Jennifer Buchheim added six points and a team-high four rebounds and Dominique Pusher chipped in seven points and two blocks.

The Beacons will hit the road once again at the end of the week, traveling to Northern California to play in the William Jessup Invitational. NCU will take on the hosts on Friday evening at 6:00, and then play Fresno Pacific University on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm.