Riley ties his Whits record

Perhaps David Riley’s lone regret Saturday night was that his performance didn’t come 24 hours earlier.

Riley matched his school record with eight 3-pointers, and he scored 34 of his game-high 37 points in the first half of Whitworth’s 88-60 rout of Northwest Conference rival Pacific Lutheran at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to 12-3 overall, 4-2 in the NWC. Unable to build on its first conference win Friday night at Whitman, PLU fell to 7-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

A 6-foot-5 sophomore with a high, smooth release, Riley had little trouble finding open shots against the Lutes’ smaller defenders. He made 13 of 17 shots – 8 of 12 beyond the arc – in the first half as the Pirates took command early en route to a 57-14 halftime lead.

Riley scored a more pedestrian 14 points in a 12-point home loss to league leader Puget Sound on Friday. Clearly, he welcomed a change after contending with UPS’s harassing defense.

“Puget Sound puts lots of pressure in your face at all times, and they’re a big team,” Riley said. “I think their starting line is all like 6-foot-6 or so. They’re harder to shoot over. … In warmups I felt loose, and I think we played like we had nothing to lose and a lot of fire.”

Riley fired in five 3-pointers in the game’s first 7 minutes as the Pirates built a commanding 25-4 lead. He closed out the final minute of the half with a 3-pointer and a nifty turnaround jumper just before the halftime buzzer.

“He’s had some great spurts in other games this year,” Whitworth coach Jim Hayford said. “But that’s what happens when you put smaller guys on him. It’s like they’re not there, and he can shoot over the top of them.

“Great players have great games.”

Nate Montgomery and Tim Sellereit contributed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Whitworth converted 31 of 53 shots (58.5 percent) from the floor and 12 of 27 from 3-point range.

PLU’s Nick Stackhouse scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, and Victor Bull and James Conti chipped in 11 points apiece.

Women

Whitworth 59, Pacific Lutheran 57: Natalie Orrell sank a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left to break a late tie, and Whitworth continued the Lutes’ return to the pack in the conference standings with a narrow victory.

The Pirates (9-6, 3-3 NWC) led 49-39 with 9 minutes left in the game, but PLU fought back and knotted the score at 57 with a minute left. Orrell later was fouled on a defensive rebound and made both free throws to put the Pirates ahead. PLU’s Amy Spieker came up short on a 15-foot jumper with 3 seconds left to seal the outcome.

PLU (9-5, 3-2) entered the weekend unbeaten in league play but lost its second straight road game.

Tiffany Corigliano and Liz Horiatis anchored the Pirates’ game in the post and combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds. Alida Bower added 11 points, and Cassie Pilkinton had nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Trinity Gibbons had 15 points for PLU. Spieker added 14.