George Fox, ranked 4th in both the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA and the D3hoops.com polls, fell to 14-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference. Pacific Lutheran, 22nd in the WBCA poll and 25th in the D3hoops.com poll, won its 12th straight in improving to 14-1 overall and took a two-game lead in the conference standings over George Fox with its 7-0 league record.
The Lutes had rallied from a 72-56 deficit by sinking four three-pointers in the final three minutes. Kelly Turner, who was 8-14 from behind the arc in the game, sank her 7th with 18 seconds left to forge a 75-75 tie. The Bruins had a chance to win it in regulation when Tiffany Schmidt was fouled with 1.9 seconds left, but she missed both free throws to send it into an extra period.
Tiffany Behary’s driving layup put the Bruins ahead to start the overtime before Turner hit her 8th three for a 78-77 PLU lead. Robin Taylor’s rebound basket put the Bruins up 79-78, and Katy Campbell’s three with 2:23 left gave the Bruins a four-point lead at 84-80. Mallory Mann’s length-of-the-court layup and a free throw by Long cut it to one at 84-83 with 38 seconds left, and Long blocked a Campbell turnaround with 11 seconds left, giving the ball back to PLU. Mann again drove into the lane and dished off to Long, who sank the winning shot and left the Bruins with too little time to get off a final shot.
In the first half, PLU used a hot hand from three-point range and strong offensive rebounding to hold the lead for most of the first 10 minutes of the game. With Turner hitting three long-range bombs and Long grabbing four off the offensive glass, the Lutes took five-point leads three times, the last at 14-9 on a trey by Turner with 15:52 left in the half. The Bruins tied the game five times before a Kim Leith three put the home team ahead 30-27 with 8:05 to go. The Bruins out-scored the Lutes 20-6 in the final eight minutes to take a 47-33 halftime lead.
After the Bruins built a 16-point lead at 56-40 on a basket by Melissa Marek-Farris with 16:19 to play in the second half, an 11-0 burst enabled the Lutes to cut the lead to five at 56-51 with 13:45 to go. A jumper by Taylor halted the streak and ignited a 16-5 Bruin spurt that gave the home team a 72-56 lead with 5:51 left, setting up the Lutes’ final rally.
Taylor and Schmidt each scored 20 points to lead the Bruins, the latter posting a career high, while Campbell had 15 and Erin Powers 12. Leith, dogged all night by Turner, was held to 9 points. Campbell had a team-high 7 rebounds and Behary passed out 7 assists for the Bruins, who had a good shooting night, sinking 53.0% (35-66).
Turner led all scorers with 26 points, Long added 25 on 11-13 from the field, and Nikki Johnson scored 12. Long and Johnson each had double-doubles by grabbing 12 and 10 rebounds respectively. Mann passed off 16 assists, tying for the single-season high in the nation in Division III this year. The Lutes shot 49.3% (33-67) for the game, including 11-26 from three-point range.
Both teams play on the road Saturday, the Bruins going to Salem to play Willamette University while the Lutes visit Lewis & Clark College in Portland. Tipoff for each game is at 6 p.m., followed by men’s NWC games at 8 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Pacific Lutheran vs George Fox
01/20/06 6:00 pm at Newberg, Oregon
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VISITORS: Pacific Lutheran 14-1, NWC 7-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 Buckingham, Patricia f 4-8 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 2 8 3 1 1 1 26
30 Johnson, Nikki...... f 4-16 1-10 3-5 4 6 10 1 12 2 3 1 3 45
42 Long, Kezia......... c 11-13 0-0 3-6 5 7 12 4 25 1 3 3 2 39
13 Turner, Kelly....... g 9-16 8-14 0-0 0 0 0 1 26 4 1 0 0 45
24 Mann, Mallory....... g 3-12 0-0 1-3 1 4 5 1 7 16 4 0 2 45
22 McHugh, Abby........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 12
34 Sticklin, Anna...... 2-2 2-2 0-0 1 0 1 1 6 0 1 1 0 8
44 Richardson, Melissa. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 5
TEAM................ 3 2 5 2
Totals.............. 33-67 11-26 8-16 15 23 38 15 85 27 16 6 8 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 16-33 48.5% OT: 4-7 57.1% Game: 49.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 42.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% OT: 1-3 33.3% Game: 50.0% 3
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HOME TEAM: George Fox 14-2, NWC 5-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Leith, Kim.......... f 3-8 2-6 1-2 0 3 3 2 9 0 3 2 1 44
33 Campbell, Katy...... f 7-11 1-2 0-0 4 3 7 2 15 1 1 0 0 28
22 Powers, Erin........ c 4-10 0-0 4-4 2 3 5 2 12 3 2 1 2 33
03 Taylor, Robin....... g 8-14 2-5 2-4 2 4 6 3 20 4 1 0 1 38
24 Behary, Tiffany..... g 2-6 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 3 4 7 3 0 1 38
21 Hubka, Jaime........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 12
23 Schmidt, Tiffany.... 9-14 2-4 0-2 1 4 5 2 20 3 2 4 0 26
25 Ramey, Kaleigha..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
40 Marek-Farris, Meliss 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 4
Team................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 35-66 7-19 7-12 11 24 35 15 84 18 13 7 5 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-32 59.4% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% OT: 4-8 50.0% Game: 53.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 36.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% OT: 0-0 0.0% Game: 58.3% 2
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Officials: Jim Morrell, Ernie Plutt, Paul Patterson
Technical fouls: Pacific Lutheran-None. George Fox-None.
Attendance: 700
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
Pacific Lutheran.............. 33 42 10 - 85
George Fox.................... 47 28 9 - 84