by Joe Rayburn, Sports Information Student Assistant
PARKLAND – Bouncing back from a tough conference-opening loss to George Fox on Friday, the Pacific Lutheran women's basketball team showed late-game resilience to gut out a 67-64 victory against visiting Lewis & Clark, the 2012-13 regular season conference champions, Saturday night at Names Family Court.
Pacific Lutheran improved to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in Northwest Conference action, ending an eight-game losing streak to Lewis & Clark and claiming the program's first win against the Pioneers since 2009. The Pioneers fell to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Lutes will travel east next weekend for a pair of games against Whitworth and Whitman.
"Tonight was a great win against Lewis & Clark," PLU head coach Jennifer Childress said. "They're one of the toughest competitors in the Northwest Conference, and our girls stepped up to the challenge. After having them coming off from a rough game last night, for them to refocus, rebound and come out with just an amazing composure for tonight's game was really exciting for the coaching staff to see."
Paced by Samantha Potter's game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds and Shelly Kilcup's perimeter sharpshooting (4-of-7 from three-point range for 14 total points), the Lutes separated from the Pioneers five minutes into the first half with an 11-0 run. Kilcup found her sweet spot from beyond the arc, registering two of her four three-pointers in the opening minutes, while tallying 10 first-half points. The contest evened after the 11:00-mark, when the sides traded baskets into halftime with the Lutes holding a 25-19 advantage at the break.
The visitors struck first in the second half with an Ayisat Afolabi layup, but the Lutes answered on the ensuing possession with another Kilcup three-pointer. From there, Katelyn Smith (11 total points) and Megan Abdo (8) shared the offensive load for PLU, scoring the Lutes' next 10 points during a four-minute span.
Pacific Lutheran cruised out to a 15-point cushion after a pair of Potter free throws made it 46-31 with 13:13 left to play, but the Lutes nearly surrendered the lead and momentum to Lewis Clark after the Pios surged back on a 16-2 run just inside eight minutes to play.
Both sides went back to trading scores, with the Lutes holding a slight advantage into the game's closing moments. A pair of clutch free throws from Sarah Barnes and Potter helped keep the Pioneers at bay as the clock wound down.
"One great thing about PLU this year with the women's basketball team is they're so unselfish," Childress said. "We had 17 assists that went out, and it doesn't matter who gets the job done. That's kind of something that they all believe in each other and have faith in each other to get the job done, and they showed that tonight. The trust was there."
Pacific Lutheran found its shooters' touch, cashing in at an even 50 percent from the field (23-of-46), including the same efficiency from beyond the arc (5-of-10). The Lutes also knocked down 84.2 percent of their free throws (16-of-19), including a perfect 4-of-4 in the last 18 seconds to secure the victory. PLU out-rebounded the Pios 38-to-20, though the visitors registered 27 points off 25 Lute turnovers. Potter registered her fourth double-double effort of the season.
"We continue to improve," Childress said. "We're not going to ride this high, and we're not going to ride the lows. We're going to play steady and keep improving."
