Lutes Unable to Hold Off Lewis & Clark Rally
PORTLAND, Ore. - Lewis & Clark rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to defeat Pacific Lutheran, 64-58, in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game played Saturday night in Pamplin Sports Complex.
After the host Pioneers scored the first point of the game, PLU (7-14 overall, 5-7 NWC) scored eight straight, five by Mandy Wall, and used that spurt to break away early. Jordan Westering scored five straight points to put the Lutes on top, 16-3, with 14:12 remaining in the half. They held a 22-9 advantage on Melissa Pixler's jumper with 7:51 left, and still led 24-12 following another Pixler basket with 6:20 to play in the period.
The Pioneers then held the Lutes scoreless for the remainder of the half and scored 10 points of their own to pull within two, 24-22, at the break.
Lewis & Clark took a brief lead on Paige Dinnie's three-point basket to open the second half, but the Lutes regained the momentum and surged ahead 45-36 on Sara Backstrom's long bomb with 9:01 to play.
The hosts replied by scoring 17 of the next 24 points to take a 53-52 lead on Talerra Rich's layup with 3:25 on the clock. Pixler came right back with a three-point basket to put the Lutes back on top, 55-53, but they managed to score just three more points in the final three minutes of the game. During that time they turned the ball over three times and missed four shots.
PLU shot the ball very well from beyond the three-point arc, making 10-of-20, but they were just 11-of-36 otherwise and ended up shooting 38 percent overall. Backstrom made 4-of-8 treys on her way to 18 points, Westering was 3-of-7 while scoring 15 points, and Pixler was 3-of-4 in scoring 13 points. Wall led the Lutes in rebounding with six.
Megan Spence had a strong game for the Pioneers with 21 points and 11 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive end. Sara Villanueva scored 14 points coming off the bench and Rich added 12 points and six rebounds for the hosts.
- PLU -
