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Jan. 23, 2009
Pacific Lutheran Remains Unbeaten at Home
PARKLAND, Wash. - It was another successful night for Pacific Lutheran at Olson Auditorium on Friday as the Lutes defeated the Linfield Wildcats, 72-51, in a Northwest Conference women's basketball contest.
The win marks the team's ninth straight victory at home against no defeats this year, and it is also PLU's 27th straight time beating the Wildcats. The Lutes are now 10-5 overall this season and 4-2 in the conference, while the Wildcats fall to 3-13, 2-5.
In the opening half the Lutes outplayed the Wildcats in both offense and defense, shooting out to a 15-1 lead. Trinity Gibbons scored 11 points and Emily Voorhies added 10 points and the two combining for 11 rebounds as the Lutes took a 36-19 halftime lead.
After the Lutes opened up a 20-point lead on a three-point basket by Amy Spieker, the Wildcats put together a brief rally, spearheaded by Nedra Evans, to narrow their deficit to 39-25 with 16:44 remaining in the game. That was as close as the Wildcats would come, however, as PLU by as much as 28 points in the second half before settling for the 21-point victory.
After shooting well in the early going, the Lutes cooled down to 40 percent for the game, but they more than made up for that with a big 42-24 rebound advantage. The Lutes had 20 of those rebounds on the offensive end, allowing them to get off 62 shots compared to just 36 for the Wildcats. After a slow start, Linfield did heat up and finished the game making 47 percent of its field goal attempts.
Voorhies had a big night for PLU with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, while Gibbons finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Spieker, making her first start since breaking her foot in the season opener on Nov. 15, finished the game with 11 points. Linfield was led by Sarah Amina with 14 points, followed by and Evans with 12.
The Lutes play at home again tomorrow night when they host unbeaten and No. 10-ranked George Fox starting at 6 p.m. Linfield travels to Forest Grove, Oregon, to face off against the Pacific Boxers, also at 6 p.m.
- PLU -
