NEWBERG, Ore. --- The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team (7-13, 4-7 NWC) 23 fourth-quarter points come up short, as they split the season series with George Fox (16-5, 8-4 NWC), 62-57.
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The Bruins notched the first basket of the game following the opening tip, but freshman
Brooke Samura responded with a lay-in of her own to tie the game up at 2-2.
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George Fox's 4-0 run was matched by
Stacie Spahr and Samura, making buckets of their own to tie the game back up at 6-6. Junior
Sydney Reisner gave the Lutes their first lead of the game with 3:37 remaining in the first after draining a three.
Brandie Tobin and
Ashley Akamine closed out a 7-0 PLU run to give the Lutes their largest lead of the game (five) and put the Lutes up 13-8 before a Bruins lay-in ended the quarter, 13-10 Lutes.
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The second half continued the Bruins run back into the game, taking a 14-13 lead. Reisner later tied the game back up at 17-17 with a lay-in, but a 7-2 run gave the Bruins a lead that they would not surrender for the remainder of the game. A 15-7 run in favor of the Bruins gave them a 32-24 lead entering halftime.
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A 7-0 run early in the third gave the Bruins their first double-digit lead of the game, where they wouldn't look back throughout the third, as they led 49-24 lead entering the final 10-minutes of the game.
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Reisner, Samura, and Spahr spearheaded a 8-0 run to start the fourth, cutting the deficit to just seven with under seven-minutes to play. The Bruins held a 56-46 lead entering the final minute of play, and even led by 10 with 24-seconds to play. But not going down without a fight, Akamine and Samura drained quick threes to bring the Lutes within a two-possession game. It was too-little, too-late for the black and gold, as George Fox went on to win, 62-57.
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"It's hard to win on the road in this league. And when we struggle to score, it forces our defense to be near-perfect, and we weren't that tonight." Said Head Coach
Lee Aduddell following the loss to the Bruins.
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"Shaela [Allen-Greggs] and Brooke [Samura] were all over the glass tonight and I'm proud of their performances."
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Samura's late three made her the Lutes leading scorer with 15-points, nine rebounds, and a pair of assists even though she fouled out with eight-seconds remaining in the contest. Allen-Greggs made her presence felt on glass, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds in just 17-minutes on the court.
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The Lutes shot 41.2% from the field, and 42.9% form beyond the arc with just seven attempts.
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The Lutes cap off the Oregon road trip tomorrow evening in McMinnville, set to take on the Linfield Wildcats at 6 p.m.
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