Feb. 16, 2007

Lutes' Playoff Hopes Vanish in Loss to Bruins

Game Statistics

Megan Clarno - 16 points

NEWBERG, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran saw its slim hopes of a Northwest Conference playoff berth finally brought to an end on Friday night. The Lutes' 65-52 loss to the George Fox Bruins, combined with wins by Linfield and Lewis & Clark, means PLU's season ends tomorrow night against Pacific in Forest, Grove, Ore.

Led by Melissa Marek-Farris’s double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds, George Fox gave coach Scott Rueck his 200th win with the victory over the Lutes in a Northwest Conference game played at the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym.

Rueck’s 11-year record at George Fox is now 200-79 as the Bruins climbed to 16-6 overall and 12-3 in the conference. With the University of Puget Sound falling 68-58 at Lewis & Clark College, the Bruins moved into a first-place tie with UPS and can guarantee themselves the NWC Tournament title game on Feb. 24, by virtue of two wins over UPS, with a win Saturday when Lewis & Clark comes to town.

Jaime Hubka’s three-point field goal capped a 9-2 George Fox run that enabled the Bruins to break away from an early 6-6 tie for a 15-8 lead six minutes into the game. The Lutes then answered with a 10-2 run of their own to go ahead 18-17 on a Kezia Long layup with 9:15 remaining in the period. Marek-Farris, who had 14 points in the half, sank a layup at 8:31 as the Bruins regained the lead 19-18, and they never trailed again. Katy Campbell’s lay-in made it 33-22 with 12 seconds left before the Lutes’ Megan Clarno hit a jumper at the buzzer, leaving George Fox ahead 33-24 at the intermission.

The Bruins remained comfortably ahead throughout the second period, taking a double-digit lead for good on a Marek-Farris basket that made it 42-31 with 13:34 to go. The Bruins three times led by as much as 20, the last time at 61-41 on a Robin Taylor layup with 5:03 left.

In addition to Marek-Farris’s double-double, her fourth of the season, Campbell had her third double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Taylor finished with 12 points and had three assists. Marek-Farris added six blocked shots to her league-leading total. The Bruin defense forced the Lutes into 19 turnovers and held PLU to a .323 shooting percentage (20-of-62).

Clarno led the Lutes in scoring with 16 points and Nikki Johnson added 10. Johnson also had nine rebounds as the Lutes controlled the boards 42-38. With the loss, PLU falls to 7-8 in the conference and to 12-11 overall.

(Courtesy George Fox Sports Information Office)