At Pacific Lutheran 58, Puget Sound 46

Tacoma, Wash. – (From Nick Dawson, PLU SID) The Pacific Lutheran women's basketball team powered back into a first place tie with George Fox in the Northwest Conference after defeating cross-town rival Puget Sound, 58-46.  The Lutes, now 10-2 in the NWC, are tied with George Fox for first place with four games remaining.  The Loggers dropped to 7-4 in NWC play and 15-5 overall.

The victory was the ninth straight for the Lutes in the Tacoma, Washington rivalry.  The last Puget Sound victory in the series was a 75-64 decision Jan. 9, 1998.  The Loggers now lead the series, 27-16.

The Lutes defense, ranked first in the NWC giving up just 50.8 points per game, improved on that.  Puget Sound shot only 28 percent for the game compared to PLU's 48 percent shooting.  Pacific Lutheran shot 11-of-19 in the second half, 58 percent.

Logger post Julie Vanni, the leading scorer in the NWC, scored 19 points to lead Puget Sound, while Pacific Lutheran was led by 13 points from Jamie Keatts and 10 each from Jessica Iserman and Katie Springer.  Vanni was the only Puget Sound player in double figures.

Pacific Lutheran took an early 4-0 lead and never relinquished it.  The Lutes held on for the victory after gaining their largest lead of the game, 55-40, with 3:35 remaining, on a layup by Springer.

PLU sophomore center Courtney Johnson blocked five Logger shots and now has 63 on the season, averaging 3.3 per game, best in the NWC.

Pacific Lutheran will play next at 6 p.m. Friday at Willamette.  Puget Sound hosts George Fox at 6 p.m. Friday.

At Whitworth 65, Whitman 41

Spokane, Wash. – (From Steve Flegel, Whitworth SID) Whitworth College pulled away from visiting Whitman College over the final 10 minutes on Tuesday night as the Pirates defeated the Missionaries 65-41 in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game.

The Pirates stayed alive in the Northwest Conference playoff race by improving to 14-8 overall and 9-4 in the NWC. Whitman fell to 7-14, 3-10, ending the Missionaries' two-game winning streak.

Whitworth forced Whitman into 32 turnovers, coming up with 23 steals, to finally pull away from the Missionaries. After taking a 24-18 lead into half-time, Whitworth had trouble shaking Whitman over the first ten minutes of the second half. A lay-in by Ashley Wright pulled the Missionaries to within 41-36 with 10:08 to play in the game.

But the Pirates outscored Whitman 24-5 the rest of the way. A key to the final run was Whitworth's success at the free throw line. The Pirates made 13 of 14 from the line in the second half, 18 of 20 in the game.

Whitman made 34.9% of its shots from the floor, to 33.3% for the Pirates. But Whitworth was able to take 20 more shots than the Missionaries due to the turnovers.

Freshman forward Tiffany Speer led all players with 19 points, while Chrissy Oneal added 16 points and finished with a game-high 10 rebounds. Sarah Shogren scored 12 points and Erica Ewart added 11 points for the Bucs.

Whitman was led by Sunny Gulberg's 10 points, while Wright totaled eight points and eight boards.

Whitworth and Whitman will both host Linfield College this weekend. The Pirates host the Wildcats on Friday night before the Missionaries play host in Walla Walla on Saturday.