BOX SCORE l Game Highlights
PORTLAND, Ore. - Sophomore Kristina Williams scored a game-high 20 points as the Lewis & Clark women's basketball team took down the Pacific Lutheran Lutes 81-55 on Saturday night in a key Northwest Conference contest. The win keeps the Pioneers in a two-way tie with the George Fox Bruins for first place in the conference.
The win improves the Pioneers to 18-5 on the season and 12-2 in conference play. The Bruins currently have an identical record as the Pioneers as both teams battle it out for the regular season championship title. The Lutes fall to 5-17 overall and 3-11 in conference action.
Williams finished with 20 points, shooting 9-10 from the free-throw line. Williams has finished in double figures in every game but one for the Pioneers this season. Junior Neva Hauser chipped in 15 points for the Pios, while Tayler Wang scored 11. Hauser was one rebound away from a double-double, coming down with a game-high nine. Senior Christina Herring collected eight boards, while Williams and Wang each had seven.
Sara Backstrom led the Lutes with 16 points, while teammate Shelly Kilcup finished with 12. Jordan Westering chipped in 10 points for the Lutes.
Once again every healthy member of the Pioneer lineup saw action. The Pioneers were strong off the glass all night, coming down with a season high 63 rebounds. The Pios earned 35 offensive rebounds, which were more rebounds than the Lutes collected all game. So far this season the Pioneers have averaged 43.0 rebounds a game, while holding their opponents to 32.1 a game.
Lewis & Clark jumped on top early in the first half, scoring on a Megan Spence layup just 30 seconds into the contest. PLU came back to earn a 6-4 lead with 17:37 to play on a Westering three. That would be the only lead the Lutes would hold all game. The Pioneers took a double-digit lead with a Spence free-throw at 9:46, going up 20-10. Lewis & Clark kept the pressure on in the closing minutes to take a 33-24 lead into the half.
The second half continued to be all Pios, taking an 11 point lead with 17 minutes remaining in the contest, and would never lead by less than 10 the rest of the way. Wang gave the Pios their largest lead of the game with 3:12 on the clock with a successful three to hand the Pioneers a 79-49 advantage. The Lutes would earn a few points back in the closing minutes but it would be the Pios who came out victorious.
Next up for the Pioneers are the Puget Sound Loggers on Friday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Pamplin Sports Center. The Loggers are currently one game back of the Pioneers as the conference season slowly comes to an end.
