At Pacific Lutheran 51, George Fox 45

Tacoma, Wash. - (From Nick Dawson, PLU SID) The Pacific Lutheran (4-0 NWC, 10-1 overall) women's basketball team foiled George Fox's undefeated season (2-1 NWC, 11-1), 51-45, here Saturday night in a Northwest Conference game. The victory was the eighth straight for the Lutes and gave the previously undefeated Bruins, ranked sixth nationally by d3hoops.com, their first loss in 12 games.

The game was a rematch of last year's NWC championship game in which the Bruins beat the Lutes, 63-58, in Newberg, Ore. PLU ended a five-game losing streak against George Fox. The last previous win occurred Feb. 27, 1999, 61-35.

The largest lead of the game by either team, six points, occurred for the first and only time with 0.1 seconds. Jamie Keatts swished two free throws, giving PLU the final tallies of the game. Surprisingly, for a game so close, there were only three lead changes. A jumper by Hilary Berg gave PLU an early 4-2 lead, a jumper by Bruin Liz Clark with 14:33 remaining gave George Fox a 31-30 lead, and a steal and fastbreak layup by Lute Toni Craig at the 9:24 mark gave PLU its final lead of the game at 36-35. There were seven ties, the final one occurring at 42 with 4:24 remaining.

The Lutes' leading scorer, Becky Franza, played all 40 minutes and scored 13. Jessica Iserman scored 12 and led PLU in rebounds with 12. Craig recorded a game-high five steals. Courtney Johnson, a 6-3 sophomore center, blocked five shots and altered numerous George Fox shot attempts throughout the game.

George Fox was led by Heather Doud's 15 points and nine rebounds. Darby Cave added 12 points and Nicole Prazeau gathered eight rebounds for the Bruins.

A Bruin turnover by Doud, her 10th, with 3:10 remaining led to a subsequent jumper by Jamie Keatts after a Lute timeout. That PLU lead of five, 47-42, with 2:54 remaining would prove insurmountable for George Fox. After Franza made two free throws with 13 seconds remaining, giving PLU a 49-45 lead, George Fox never got a shot off before Nicole Prazeau committed a turnover with two seconds remaining.

PLU returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, against Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. George Fox will host Puget Sound at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 8.

Whitworth 67, at Willamette 59

Salem, Ore. - (From Cliff Voliva, Willamette SID) Willamette erased a 17-point halftime deficit, but Whitworth came up with a final surge in the last four minutes as the visiting Pirates defeated the Bearcats, 67-59, in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game at Cone Field House.

Whitworth (8-4, 3-0 NWC) controlled the first half by shooting 56 percent from the field and took a commanding 42-25 lead into intermission. But the Bearcats (6-7, 1-3 NWC) whittled away at the deficit and when Jammie Muth canned a three-pointer with 8:16 left, Willamette led 54-53.

However, Willamette would not see the lead again. Sarah Shogren hit a pair of free throws with 5:54 left to make it 58-54 Whitworth. The Pirates pushed the lead back to 10 points after Dani Bielec and Chrissy Oneal hit back-to-back three-point shots.

Willamette post Kasey Sorenson, who sparked WU's second-half comeback, led all scorers with 19 points. She hit 7 of 8 shots from the field. Whitworth got a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jaime Dreewes and 16 points from Erica Ewart.

The Pirates shot .433 for the game, compared to Willamette's .375 mark.

At Pacific 55, Linfield 51

Forest Grove, Ore. - (From Blake Timm, Pacific SID) Pacific opened their Northwest Conference home schedule Saturday by picking up their first conference victory of the year, a 55-52 decision over Linfield at the Pacific Athletic Center.

The Boxers improved to 5-7 on the year (1-3 NWC) thanks to a strong defensive effort that allowed the Boxers to capitalize on 24 Wildcat turnovers.

Linfield (4-8, 0-3 NWC), however, made the Boxers work back from a 7-0 deficit only three minutes into the contest. The Wildcats held serve until Mary Lindburg hit a lay-in for Pacific's first lead, 18-17, with 8:53 left in the period.The teams see-sawed back and forth until Kristi Bryant hit two free throws that started a 5-0 run for the Boxers, closing out the period at 32-27.

The see-sawed continued throughout the second half, bring the game down to the final minute. Katannya Kapeli hit a jumper to make it 53-52 with a minute left. Three point attempts by Katie Gardner and Alicia Westley went unsuccessful as Janna Vavra hit a late basket to close scoring.

Kristine Callan led the Boxers with 12 points. She was the only Boxer in double figures. Leah Moore was the only Wildcat in double figures with 17.

At Lewis & Clark 63, Whitman 51

Portland, Ore. - (From Tom Galbraith, L&C SID) Lindsay Tarr blocked a shot at the buzzer Saturday to secure Lewis & Clark's first Northwest Conference win, 63-61 over Whitman at the Pamplin Sports Center.

Whitman's Sunny Gulberg got a good look from 18 feet to tie the game, but Tarr tipped the ball as it left Gulberg's hand. The play capped a game that was tight all night. The biggest lead either team could manage was five.

Deidra Wilson proved the difference in the game for the Pioneers. She came off the bench to score 18 points and grab 12 rebounds. She also had six steals. Lindsay Sweetland scored 12, as did Nnenna Lewis. It was reserve Leslie Jansen hitting two big freethrows and grabbing two offensive rebounds in the final two minutes that helped seal the game for L&C.

Ashley Wright led Whitman with 17 points. Kim Evanger totaled 11 points and 10 caroms. Gulberg and Darin Reynaud each finished with 10 points.

For the game, L&C shot only 29.2 percent from the field, but forced 23 turnovers and hit 20 of 24 from the charity stripe.