Lutes Open Season With 69-61 Win Over Corban

Pacific Lutheran opened its 2009 women's basketball season on Friday afternoon with a 69-61 victory over the visiting Corban College Warriors in Olson Auditorium.

The Lutes broke away from a 55-55 tie by outscoring the Warriors, 14-6, in the final 4:36 of the contest. Melissa Pixler hit a three-point shot from the right corner and Shelly Kilcup added a layup as the Lutes scored five straight points. Sarah Backstrom, who led the Lutes with 16 points, hit a three-pointer and a jumper down the stretch as the Lutes pulled away in the closing minute.

Pacific Lutheran scored the games first six points, four by Tracy Goehri, and later grabbed a 16-9 lead on Mandy Wall's jumper with 12:32 left in the first half. Corban (0-4) responded with an 8-0 run, capped by Jennessa Miller's jumper, to take a 17-16 advantage with 8:37 left in the half. From that point on, the game was a back-and-forth affair as neither team could pull away from the other.

After shooting just 29 percent in the first half, the Lutes made 51 percent of their field goal attempts in the closing period to finish with 41 percent marksmanship. Backstrom, who led the Lutes with five assists, was 7-for-13 from the field and both Pixler and Jordan Westering were 5-for-12 on their way to 14-point outputs. Goehri had a strong game in the paint for the Lutes, leading both teams with 12 rebounds and also contributing nine points. Kilcup and Wall both added eight points for PLU.

Corban's Tess Bennett led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field, while Becky Buhler lit it up from three-point range, hitting 3-for-6 on her way to 13 points. Miller also contributed 13 points for the Warriors, who were led in the rebounding department by Rachel Harter. Katie Steigleman, Corban's leading scorer, was just 4-for-16 from the field in scoring eight points, though she did contribute eight rebounds.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow when it plays the Concordia University Cavaliers in Portland. Corban, meanwhile, heads over the Cascade Mountains to Cheney for a Saturday contest against Eastern Washington University.

- PLU -