Feb. 5, 2008

Lutes Recover From Rough Weekend; Host No. 17 Puget Sound

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran women’s basketball team plays host to Puget Sound at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Olson Auditorium. Saturday PLU travels to Salem to take on Willamette with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.

PLU vs. UPS: Tonight’s game will be the 59th meeting between the two schools. Puget Sound holds the all-time series lead, 35-23. Last season the Lutes were swept by the Loggers, 56-53 and 67-60. The last victory over UPS came in the 2006 when PLU ended the season for the Loggers, 62-50, in the second round of the NCAA playoffs hosted by PLU.

ABOUT UPS: Puget Sound is currently in a two-way tie with George Fox for first place in the Northwest Conference. Both the Loggers and the Bruins sport a 9-1 NWC record while UPS is 16-3 overall. The two teams played each other last Saturday night where UPS forced 23 turnovers in a 59-43 win. The victory bumped the Loggers up six spots in the national rankings to No. 17. Statistically the Loggers are a great shooting team. They rank first in the conference in three point field goal percent and individually Morgan Harter and Marissa Cain both rank in the top three in the same category. Cain is averaging almost 15 points a game while Laura Hirsh averages 13.4 points per game. In the national rankings UPS is ranked eighth in turnovers per game only allowing 14.7 a game. Puget Sound is definitely a second half team as the Loggers have outscored their opponents by 184 points this year compared to 84 points in the first half.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: The Lutes will be looking for revenge against Willamette after a 67-64 home loss to the Bearcats earlier this season. In that game PLU was held scoreless in the final six minutes of the game as Willamette went on a 15-to-0 run to earn the victory. The Bearcats are currently tied for seventh in the Northwest Conference with a 2-6 NWC record and a 4-15 overall record. Molly Fillion and Laura Payne are both averaging over 13 points a game for Willamette. Fillion also averages over ten rebounds a game which ranks her in the top 50 nationally in that category.

ALL TIME SERIES: The two teams have played each other 54 times since 1981. PLU holds the lead in the all time series with 32 wins compared to Willamette’s 22. Before the loss to the Bearcats earlier this season PLU had a four game win streak against Willamette.

HAAG REMAINS IN TOP SPOT: Pacific Lutheran senior Kyle Haag remained in the top spot in the NCAA Division III in three-point field goals made per game. Last weekend Haag played against some tough defense including the number on e ranked defense in the country, George Fox. Haag only made three long balls in two games dropping her average from 3.5 to 3.3 three-point field goals per game. More dangerous to PLU’s opponents than the amount of threes Haag makes is her accuracy. Haag is 63-for-152 for the season, or 41 percent, which places her 28th in the nation.

OTHER NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior Trinity Gibbons averages 4.5 assists per game, ranking her 59th in the country. As a team, PLU ranks 36th in three-point field goal percentage at 34.7 percent.

ROUGH WEEKEND: This past weekend left little for the Lute faithful to celebrate, despite this many PLU fans woke up Sunday morning with a bad headache and upset stomach. These hangovers were not a result of a party but rather the combined 49 point loss to George Fox & Lewis & Clark. The 49 points is the largest margin of defeat in a single weekend for PLU since the 1992-93 season.

GEORGE FOX GAME: The No. 12-ranked George Fox Bruins showed why they have the top scoring defense in Division III women’s basketball, defeating the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 58-35, in a Northwest Conference women’s basketball game last Friday night in Olson Auditorium. George Fox shut down PLU senior Kyle Haag, who is the leading scoring in the NWC averaging 15.7 points a game. Tough defense by the Bruins forced Haag to force difficult shots. Haag leads the nation in three point field goals per game, but tonight she was 0-for-2 from behind the line and 0-for-4 for the game. The Bruins came into the game allowing just 43 points per game and held the Lutes eight points under that total. The loss ends a four-game win streak for the Lutes who now drop to 4-5 in the conference and 11-7 overall. George Fox moves up to 17-1 and remains perfect in conference play with a 9-0 record. The win was the 12th consecutive for the Bruins, breaking the school record of 11 straight wins set four previous times. The first half started out slow with the Bruins leading 9-8 with just under 10 minutes left in the half. A three-pointer by MaryAnne Samples sparked a 16-5 George Fox run that put the Bruins up, 25-13. PLU tried to get back into the game but two quick steals by Tiffany Behary took the wind out of the Lutes’ sails. The Bruins led 34-21 at half. Neither team shot particularly well in the first half as PLU was 10-for-27 while George Fox shot 11-for-28. The Bruins did not let up in the second half and their hard-pressing defense forced the Lutes to shoot just over 20 percent from the field, going 6-for-29. PLU was cold from the three-point line, making 2-for-12 while George Fox was 7-for-19. George Fox also dominated in the rebounding department, grabbing 58 rebounds compared to the Lutes’ 35. The two teams had a combined 30 turnovers on the night. Emily Voorhies led the Lutes in scoring with 13 points, and both Amy Spieker and Trinity Gibbons added eight points. Gibbons had eight rebounds for the Lutes.

LEWIS & CLARK GAME: The hot-shooting Lewis & Clark Pioneers defeated Pacific Lutheran, 75-49, in a Northwest Conference women’s basketball game Saturday night in Olson Auditorium. The Pioneers shot extremely well from the field making, 30 of their 49 shots, good for 61.2 percent. The Lutes jumped out to an early lead after a layup by Emily Voorhies put PLU up 8-5. Lewis & Clark answered with a 12-2 run to go ahead 17-10. PLU tried to get back into the game on a jumper by Megan Dowling that pulled the Lutes within three, but Lewis & Clark pulled away and went into the locker room with a 41-27 lead. The second half started off well for PLU after a pair of threes by Kyle Haag pulled the Lutes within eight, 50-42. Lewis & Clark had no intention of letting the Lutes back into the game as a three pointer by Laura Snider helped spark a 25-7 run to end the game. PLU missed nine of their last 10 shots in the game. PLU could not match the hot shooting by the Pioneers as the shot 37.5 percent (18-for-48). Lewis & Clark dominated the boards grabbing 34 compared to the Lutes’ 21 rebounds. Amy Spieker led the Lutes in scoring with 18 points. Melissa Richardson and Emily Voorhies both grabbed eight rebounds for PLU.

- PLU -