TACOMA, Wash. – Trailing 48-47 heading into the fourth quarter, the Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team poured in 22 points in the final frame to outscore Whitworth University by 10 and earn a 69-60 victory over the visiting Pirates.
After a difficult third quarter offensively for PLU, the Lutes came out hot in the fourth and used a 14-2 run to spark the victory. Whitworth had stretched the lead to 54-50 when
Madison Salisbury put in a layup, followed by a three-pointer by
Ava Edmonds. Salisbury capped the spurt with another layup on a pretty pass from
Toni Thibert. After a Pirate bucket, Thibert and Edmonds laid the ball in and Thibert,
Emma Janousek, Salsibury cashed in a free throw each to give the Lutes a 64-56 lead with just 97 seconds remaining.
PLU (2-4, 2-4 NWC) came out of the gate strong, scoring 20 in the first quarter and leading by as many as 11, 27-16, with 8:27 left in the second quarter. However, the Pirates worked that lead all the way down to just six by halftime and took a one-point lead heading into the fourth after holding the Lutes to just 10 points in the third quarter.
All five Lute starters reached double figures, led by Thibert with 12, who also collected a team-high 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Emma Janousek had a great all-around game with 11 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while
Megan Drake matched her with 11 in the scoring column. Edmonds and Salisbury both had 10 each, while Edmonds swatted four Pirate shots.
As a team, the Lutes shot 50 percent from the field, while holding the Pirates to just 34.9 percent and 25 percent (5-for20) from the three-point line. Megan Dorney scored a game-high 23 for Whitworth, and Quincy McDeid grabbed 11 boards.
The teams return to Names Family Court tomorrow for Game 2 of the weekend series at 5:30 p.m.
