TACOMA, WA -- After trailing by one entering halftime, an impressive second half display aided the Bulldogs in a 67-55 victory over Puget Sound, a team that made it to the round of 32 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Saturday night in Tacoma, Washington. Callista Perez (San Antonio/Stevens) led the Bulldogs with a career-high 18 points, five rebounds, and two assists as Texas Lutheran improves to 4-1 on the season.

Trailing by eight midway through the second quarter, Texas Lutheran (4-1) clawed its way back in a matchup that was highly contested early on against Puget Sound (0-5). Sarahi Jones (Los Fresnos/Los Fresnos) continued her impressive start to the season with 14 points and seven rebounds, carrying the Bulldogs through the first half with 12 points. Angelina Sotelo (San Marcos/San Marcos) finished with 12 points and six rebounds while Kayla Presley (Kyle/San Marcos) added 11 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Texas Lutheran forced 21 Logger turnovers Saturday led by four steals from Juliana Tapia (San Antonio/O'Connor).

Jones and Perez would combine for 11 of the Bulldogs 19 points in the opening period as the Bulldogs led 19-16 after the opening ten minutes of play.

The Loggers would come alive in the second quarter as they would use the three-ball and a 58.3% overall shooting percentage to overtake the Bulldogs in the second quarter to take a one point lead into halftime.

TLU would limit the Loggers to ten points on 30.8% shooting in the third as the Bulldogs would begin to wear down their west coast foes. TLU would have their highest scoring period of the night, outscoring Puget Sound 20-10 in the third led by eight points from Kayla Presley. 

Texas Lutheran would take their 53-44 lead into the fourth and cruise the rest of the way leading by as many as 15 points in the fourth.

Next up, Texas Lutheran will play their final game of their west coast road trip on Monday, Nov. 25, as they travel to Oregon to face Pacific University. Tip-off is set for 2 PM CST/ 12 PM PST. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

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