Portland, Ore. - The Bushnell women's basketball team held off a feisty Multnomah team on Friday night, improving to 2-0 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play with a 76-59 victory.
 
The Beacons (4-3, 2-0 CCC) stormed out of the gates, building an 18-2 lead in the first six minutes. The visitors never trailed, but were forced to hold off a number of Multnomah rallies as Lions scratched and clawed their way back to within single digits on multiple occasions.
 
With seven minutes remaining, MU was still making a bid for the upset as they trailed 57-50. The Beacons, however, were able to end the game on a 19-9 run to seal the win.
 
Head Coach Chad Meadors said, "We played a great opening eight minutes tonight and after that we just shut it down. We stopped defending, and played fatigued but we were able to keep them at bay the rest of the way. I'm not going to complain about a conference win on the road. Multnomah is tremendously improved and I see why they have played as many close games as they have. The will get some wins in conference and I'm just glad tonight wasn't one of them."
 
Bushnell shot 46.3% from the field on Friday but were an uncharacteristic 10-for-30 from three-point range and shot just 26% at the free-throw line. The Beacons scored 25 points off of 23 Lion turnovers, and held a 27-16 advantage in points off the bench.
 
Multnomah (0-8, 0-2) was held to 37% shooting, but were 81% at the free-throw line including a 9-for-10 effort in the fourth quarter.
 
The Beacons had four players in double-figures, led by an 18-point, eight-rebound effort from CCC leading scorer Aspen Slifka. Aly Mirable and Morgan McKinney added 12 points each with Mirable responsible for five steals. Continuing to display her prowess as the sixth-woman, Bella Pedrojetti hit three triples, shot 50% from the field and scored 14.
 
The Lions were led by Kianna ponce, scoring 14 points while Alaygza Portis secured a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
It will be a battle of conference undefeated's on Saturday as the Beacons head across town to face Warner Pacific University (3-2, 2-0) at 3:00 pm. The Knights defeated Corban in CCC action on Friday night.