TACOMA, Wash. – Trailing 45-41 heading into the fourth quarter, the Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball outscored visiting Linfield College 22-9 over the final 10 minutes to earn a 63-54 victory in the final game of the season.
"Overall I was really proud of how our team finished the season," said PLU Head Coach
Tiffany Twiddy. "We had to make some adjustments to our rebounding and defense throughout the game. The team responded well and made those adjustments seamlessly. It's been an honor to coach this group and I was very proud of their energy and effort."
PLU scored the first eight points in final period to stake a 49-45 lead over the Wildcats.
Josie Napoli scored four points, while
Mady Simmelink and
Ava Edmonds added buckets in the 8-0 spurt. The Lutes maintained the lead over the next several minutes, but began to pull away with 2:37 left when
Maddie Plevyak hit a step back jumper to put the Lutes up 59-52. The Lute defense dug in over the final minutes allowing just four points over the final 5:51 as the home team iced the game from the free throw line.
Napoli finished with a game-high 20 points and knocked down 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Edmonds added 15, while Simmelink stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block.
"Ava poured in 15 and really rallied her offesnively when we needed it," said Twiddy. "Jose had 20 and could really score at will and hit some clutch end of game free throws."
Defensively, the Lutes held Linfield to just 28 percent shooting from the field. The Wildcats managed to hit 8-of-29 from long range, but made just 11 other buckets from inside the three-point arc.
