LOS ANGELES – Pacific Lutheran stormed out to a double-digit first quarter lead and held off Occidental's second-comeback attempt to close out the nonconference women's basketball schedule with a 57-45 road win Thursday afternoon at Rush Gymnasium.
PLU improved to 5-6 this season with its second win in three games during its trip to California. The Lutes return to Northwest Conference action next weekend, as they travel to Oregon to take on Linfield Jan. 8 and George Fox Jan. 9.
"Our third game in four days, and I was very proud of the resilience we showed," PLU head coach Jennifer Childress said. "We came out and shot the ball great in the first half, then we withstood their comeback surge in the third and showed great composure to get out with the W."
Megan Abdo led PLU with 14 points, while Lacey Nicholson posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists. Ionna Price also grabbed 10 rebounds and scored seven points for the Lutes.
Occidental scored the first basket of the game, but PLU scored 19 of the next 23 points to go up 19-6 late in the first quarter. The Tigers bounced back with five straight points before Kristin Sturdivan ended the quarter for the Lutes with a three-pointer to put the Lutes on top 22-11.
Sturdivan opened the second quarter with another three-pointer as PLU made eight treys in the first half of play. The Lutes stretched their lead to a game-high 20 points when a Price three-pointer made it 38-18 late in the second quarter before Occidental scored the final five points of the half.
Occidental used a 15-2 run between the end of the third quarter and the first six minutes of the third to pull back within 40-33 before a layup by Nicholson ended the run for the Lutes. After the Tigers drew within six points Nicholson scored four points in the final 23 seconds of the third to give the Lutes a 46-36 lead heading into the final period.
The Tigers again tried to make it a game with six straight points to pull within six with just under seven minutes remaining, but a Nicholson jumper sparked a 9-3 PLU run to close out the 12-point win. The Lutes made three of their four free throw attempts in the final minutes and clinched the win despite attempting only six free throws in the game.
"Having only reached the foul line six times, we found other ways to convert and really relied on our defense to finish the game," Childress said.
PLU limited Occidental to 29.8 percent shooting for the day (17-of-57), including 3-of-13 from three-point range (23.1 percent). The Lutes also finished the game with a 43-40 rebounding advantage and a 21-13 lead in bench points.
