TACOMA – Pacific Lutheran nearly battled back from a 16-point first-half deficit before Concordia-Moorhead pulled away in the second half to defeat the Lutes 69-51 in nonconference women's basketball action at the Doug McArthur Classic Friday afternoon at Memorial Fieldhouse.

Pacific Lutheran falls to 1-2 overall with the loss, while Concordia-Moorhead improves to 2-1. The Lutes return to action Saturday, when they will take on College of Saint Benedict at 2 p.m.

Megan Abdo led the Lutes with 15 points and added five rebounds. Lacey Nicholson grabbed a team-best six rebounds to go with seven points, and Tayler Flemming scored eight. Erin Januschka led the Cobbers with 16 points, while Alley Fisher scored 15 and Olivia Johnson posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lutes held an early lead after Abdo's layup made it 6-5, but the Cobbers scored the next nine points and eventually stretched their lead to 16 at 29-13 with 2:22 to play in the opening period. PLU closed the half on a 6-2 run to make it a 31-19 game at the break.

A pair of Hannah Jeske free throws put Concordia-Moorhead back up 14 just over two minutes into the second half, but the Lutes got consecutive free throws from Flemming and Abdo to spark a 10-point streak. Another three by Flemming a few minutes later set up a jumper by Nicholson that pulled PLU within one at 37-36 with 13:01 to play.

That proved to be the closest PLU would get, as consecutive Januschka layups made it a five-point game. A three-pointer by Bailey Raines again pulled the Lutes within two, but a pair of three-pointers highlighted an 11-point Concordia streak, and the Cobbers never looked back.

The teams combined for 49 fouls and 58 free throw attempts, with the Lutes making 15 of 28 and the Cobbers hitting 21 of 30 from the charity stripe. Concordia out-rebounded PLU 49-to-38, while the two teams shot an almost-identical percentage from the field: PLU at 34.0 percent (16-of-47) and Concordia at 34.9 (22-of-63).