Lutes Even NWC Record with Close Victory Over Pirates

PARKLAND - A game that was tied 10 times went down to the wire as Pacific Lutheran prevailed at home over the Whitworth Pirates, 57-55, in a Northwest Conference game played Saturday night in Olson Auditorium.

The win was the second straight for Pacific Lutheran (5-10 overall, 3-3 Northwest Conference), and bumped them ahead of Whitworth (6-9, 2-4) in the NWC standings.

Jordan Westering scored six of the Lutes' final seven points, including a three-pointer with 1:38 left to play that broke a 53-53 tie and gave the Lutes their biggest lead of the contest. With the Lutes leading, 56-55, Meghan Dowling blocked Liz Horiatis' jumper with 18 seconds remaining and grabbed the rebound for the Lutes.

Sara Backstrom's free throw with three seconds left finished off the scoring as the Lutes came back from a 23-20 halftime deficit to earn the win.

Whitworth led for the majority of the contest, with the Lutes consistently tying the game up and on several occasions pulling ahead by a point. The Pirates' largest lead of the game came two minutes into the second half when Natalie orrell's layup gave the visitors a seven-point lead.

The Lutes' Tracy Goehri led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, one of four PLU players scoring in double figures. Leah Pomante's 12 points led the visitors. Dowling finished with 10 rebounds, including the clutch defensive board following her late block that sealed the win for the Lutes.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action on Friday when the Lutes will visit Willamette in a Northwest Conference game scheduled for 6 p.m.