Dec. 15, 2007

Lutes Hold off Late Concordia Rally, Win 59-55

Box Score

Amy Spieker - 11 points

PARKLAND, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran held off a late Concordia (Ore.) rally to garner a 59-55 non-conference women’s basketball victory on Saturday night in Olson Auditorium.

With the victory, PLU improves its season record to 5-1. Concordia, a member of the NAIA’s Cascade Collegiate Conference, is now 4-7 for the year.

After rallying from a 30-27 halftime deficit, Pacific Lutheran led by 13 points, 55-42, on Amy Spieker’s three-point basket with 6:10 remaining in the contest. With Maryam Razavi hitting a layup and a three-pointer, the visiting Cavaliers went on a 13-2 spurt to cut their deficit to two points. Danielle Clauson, who led all players with 19 points, capped the run with a layup to make the score 57-55 with 1:18 left to play.

In the closing minute, the Lutes missed a jumper, Emily Voorhies blocked a Concordia jumper, and Clauson missed a jumper. Trinity Gibbons grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made both free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put the Lutes on top, 59-55. When Melissa Richardson stole the half-court inbounds pass, the Lutes had the victory.

The score was tied seven times in the first half, but the Lutes built a 27-20 lead until the Cavaliers scored the period’s final 10 points. During that time, Concordia held the PLU scoreless for nearly six minutes. After the intermission, Kyle Haag and Spieker hit consecutive three balls, leading to a 10-1 PLU run at the start of the final stanza.

In addition to scoring 19 points, Clauson tied with Kelsey Schaefer for team-high rebounding honors with seven. Denise Benedict added 10 points for the Cavaliers.

For Pacific Lutheran, Spieker, Gibbons and Haag all scored 11 points, and both Trish Buckingham and Richardson grabbed nine rebounds.

The team statistics were close as the Cavaliers shot 22-of-64 from the field, or 34 percent, compared to 21-of-62, also 34 percent, for the Lutes. Concordia won the rebounding battle, 44-43. PLU made 7-of-18, or 39 percent, from three-point range, and that proved to be the difference.

Pacific Lutheran has three more non-conference games on the docket prior to the new year. The Lutes play next Tuesday at Saint Martin’s, host Maryville (Tenn.) on Thursday, and play at Warner Pacific on Dec. 31.

- PLU -