BELLINGHAM – Pacific Lutheran stormed out to a 14-point halftime lead and held off Saint Martin's in the second half to earn the program's first win against the Saints in more than 20 years with a 71-54 women's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Lynda Goodrich Classic.
Pacific Lutheran improved to 2-3 with the win, while Saint Martin's fell to 3-3. The Saints had won 15 straight games against PLU dating back to a 68-57 win for the Lutes during the 1989-90 season. The Lutes have a nearly two-week break before their next game on Dec. 13, when they will head to Kirkland to take on Northwest at 6 p.m.
Samantha Potter led all players with 18 points as four Lutes reached double-figures in the scoring column. Kara Sherman made seven of her nine shot attempts to score 15 points, while Katelyn Smith and Shelly Kilcup each tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Kilcup also finished the game with eight steals, helping her earn all-tournament honors for her performance over the weekend.
Chelsea Haskey scored 12 points as the lone Saint to reach double-digits. Pacific Lutheran shot 51.2 percent (22-of-43) for the game while limiting Saint Martin's to 32.8 percent shooting (20-of-61) overall and 25 percent (7-of-28) in the first half.
Potter opened the game with a close-range jumper to put PLU up 2-0. After Haskey tied it with a jumper Kilcup dropped a three to make it 5-2. The Saints scored the next four points to take a 6-5 lead, but back-to-back threes by Megan Abdo and Andrea Adams pushed PLU ahead 13-8, and the Lutes led the rest of the way.
Pacific Lutheran used a 13-point run midway through the first half to turn a three-point lead into a 16-point advantage at 28-12. Saint Martin's narrowed the lead to 14 going into the break, as PLU led 32-18 at halftime. The Saints inched as close as 12 back several times in the second half, with PLU stretching its lead to as many as 23 points with 5:02 to play in the game. PLU has now played three games against NCAA Div. II opponents, with the Lutes pulling out wins in two of those contests.
