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Plu Women Best Bucs

Joe Everson Correspondent

Area college basketball

Two holes were one too many for the Whitworth women to escape Friday night at the Fieldhouse.

The Pirates lost 77-66 to Pacific Lutheran University and missed a chance to advance in the Northwest Conference basketball standings.

PLU had a 15-point scoring run in the first half, then scored 11 straight early in the second to build a 25-point lead over the Pirates, who came within seven points in the game’s final minute.

The defeat ended a four-game win streak for Whitworth (7-4 in conference, 13-7 overall) and the Bucs fell behind the Lutes by two games in the NWC loss column. PLU (9-2, 14-5) remains in the hunt for the conference championship.

“We just played the whole first half back on our heels,” a disappointed Whitworth coach Helen Higgs said. “We were just totally unaggressive.”

Whitworth trailed by only four points, 20-16, when PLU got things started, and the Lutes’ press was a big factor in the Pirates’ problems, helping force 14 first-half turnovers. Swedish freshman Maria Geni, averaging two points a game, scored seven straight as Pacific Lutheran stretched its lead to 35-16.

When PLU pushed the margin to 25 points, 58-33, 6 minutes into the second half, it looked as if this one was in the books, but Whitworth answered with a 14-2 streak that helped it cut PLU’s lead to 10.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, only 1:45 remained and although the Whits trimmed the deficit to seven in the last 30 seconds, a moral victory was all they could claim.

“There were a lot of small things we didn’t do well tonight,” Higgs said. “We still have a chance to have the most wins ever here, but we need to take care of business.”

Jamie Wakefield led the Pirates with 25 points, including 7 of 9 from the field, but Jennifer Bennett was the only other Whitworth scorer in double figures, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Star Olson, averaging 13 a game, had only one field goal until the last 5 minutes.

Last year’s Northwest Conference most valuable player, 6-foot Tara Millet, led the Lutes with 22 points. PLU made 22 of 26 free throws and 7 of 13 3-point attempts.

Pacific Lutheran 77, Whitworth 66

Pacific Lutheran (14-5, 9-2) - Franza 3-5 3-4 9, Ruud 1-4 0-0 3, Millet 8-12 5-5 22, Barker 2-4 4-4 9, Hahn 1-1 0-0 3, Keatts 2-6 7-8 11, Geni 2-5 1-3 7, Springer 4-4 0-0 8, Iserman 1-6 2-2 5. Totals 24-47 22-26 77.

Whitworth (13-7, 7-4) - Stuenkel 3-10 1-2 7, Olson 3-7 1-2 8, Slwooko 1-5 0-0 2, Wakefield 7-9 10-15 25, Bandy 1-3 0-0 2, Ewart 0-2 1-2 1, Middlesworth 0-0 0-0 0, Dreewes 1-2 1-2 3, Wilder 4-7 0-1 8, Bennett 4-6 2-3 10. Totals 24-51 16-27 66.

Halftime-Pacific Lutheran 43, Whitworth 28. 3-point goals- Pacific Lutheran 7-13 (Geni 2-2, Hahn 1-1, Ruud 1-2, Millet 1-2, Barker 1-2, Iserman 1-2, Franza 0-1, Keatts 0-1), Whitworth 2-13 (Wakefield 1-1, Olson 1-4, Ewart 0-1, Slwooko 0-3, Stuenkel 0-4). Fouled out-Hahn. Rebounds-Pacific Lutheran 30 (Millet 6), Whitworth 30 (Bennett 10). Assists-Pacific Lutheran 11 (Franza 4), Whitworth 12 (Stuenkel 4). Total fouls-Pacific Lutheran 22, Whitworth 21. A-457.

Nevada 83, Idaho 70

Nevada built a 13-point halftime lead behind 57 percent shooting from the floor and the Wolf Pack went on to post a Big West Conference victory over the Vandals in Reno, Nev.

Kate Smith hit 9 of 10 free throws and finished with a game-high 19 points, while Angie Heer added 17 points and five assists for Nevada (15-6, 5-3).

Alli Nieman’s 18 points topped Idaho (12-9, 5-3). The loss dropped the Van dals into a first-place tie with Nevada in the East. Boise State missed an opportunity to make it a three-way tie when it lost at New Mexico State 56-54.

Idaho (12-9, 5-3) - Woolf 4-15 7-10 16, Bartleson 1-5 3-4 5, Jackson 0-4 0-0 0, Nieman 7-16 4-4 18, Wynstra 5-10 2-2 12, LeBlanc 2-2 0-0 5, Goss 0-0 0-0 0, Benad 1-1 0-0 2, Pemberton 1-1 0-0 2, Rico 1-2 2-3 4, Bloom 2-2 2-4 6. Totals 24-58 20-27 70.

Nevada (15-6, 5-3) - Heer 7-12 0-0 17, Larsen 3-7 2-2 9, Sorensen 1-1 0-0 3, Golomb 6-8 1-2 15, Smith 5-13 9-10 19, Bryant 2-5 6-7 10, Bastian 0-2 0-0 0, Estrada 2-5 4-4 8, O’Malley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-54 22-25 83.

Halftime-Nevada 41, Idaho 28. 3-point goals-Idaho 2-14 (LeBlanc 1-1, Woolf 1-9, Bartleson 0-1, Nieman 0-1, Jackson 0-2), Nevada 7-18 (Heer 3-7, Golomb 2-2, Sorensen 1-1, Larsen 1-4, Smith 0-2, Bryant 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Idaho 39 (Woolf, Nieman 8), Nevada 26 (Smith 6). Assists-Idaho 17 (Woolf, Bartleson, Rico 3), Nevada 20 (Heer, Bryant 5). Total fouls-Idaho 15, Nevada 20. Technicals-Idaho bench. A-1,186.

Dixie 74, North Idaho 61

Caroline Heaton scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to help the Rebels pull out a Scenic West Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals in St. George, Utah.

North Idaho (15-10, 6-7) - An. Lewis 1-6 0-0 2, Am. Lewis 3-8 0-0 8, Cottrell 3-3 2-2 8, Broxton 2-7 2-2 6, Hudgens 1-2 1-2 3, Getz 6-13 4-4 19, Edlund 0-0 0-0 0, Schwenk 0-2 0-2 0, Edwards 2-3 0-0 4, Heier 3-4 1-1 7, Torpey 2-3 0-0 4, Totals 23-51 10-11 61.

Dixie - Griffiths 2-4 2-2 7, Heaton 10-14 2-6 23, Baldwin 2-8 0-0 5, Heiseldetz 1-4 0-0 2, Glover 7-17 2-3 17, Barre 7-11 1-1 16, Streeter 0-1 0-0 0, Hansen 1-2 0-0 2, Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Dietrich 1-1 0-0 2, Jolley 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 31-67, 7-12 74.

Halftime - Dixie 29, North Idaho 29. 3-point goals - North Idaho 5-19 (An. Lewis 0-2, Am. Lewis 2-5, Getz 3-8, Broxton 0-2, Schwenk 0-2) Dixie 5-15 (Griffiths 1-2, Heaton 1-1, Baldwin 1-2, Heiseldetz 0-1, Glover 1-5, Barre 1-3, Street 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - North Idaho 28 (Torpey 5) Dixie 41 (Heaton 11). Assists - North Idaho 10 (An. Lewis 3, Getz 3), Dixie 23 (Baldwin 7). Total fouls - North Idaho 15, DIxie 13. Technicals - None. A - 100.

Men

Whitworth 71, PLU 68

Whitworth’s men (5-8, 10-11) lost a nine-point second-half lead in under 40 seconds, then came back for a stirring 71-68 victory over Pacific Lutheran at the Pirate Fieldhouse.

The score was tied at 66-all with a minute left when reserve guard Travis Meserve nailed a 3, and Kevin McDaniel took a Kelson Ramey feed for a layin and a 71-66 lead 40 seconds later.

The Lutes cut the lead to three on Garrett Miller’s jam, but missed a chance to tie in the last 5 seconds after Whitworth’s missed free throw at the other end.

McDaniel led the Pirates with 24 points on 12-of-16 shooting, while Miller had 15 and Neil Mendez 14 for PLU (7-6, 12-9).

Pacific Lutheran (12-9, 7-6) - Mendez 5-9 4-5 14, Kelly 4-11 0-0 8, Miller 6-9 3-3 15, Dordal 3-8 0-0 9, Vander Ploeg 1-6 8-10 10, Wang 0-2 1-2 1, Hatlen 2-6 2-4 6, Makanani 1-5 2-2 5. Totals 22-56 20-26 68.

Whitworth (10-11, 5-8) - Ramey 2-5 0-0 5, Luce 3-6 1-1 7, Gazdik 2-4 1-4 6, Nelson 4-9 2-3 11, McDaniel 12-16 0-0 24, Meserve 4-8 0-0 12, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Rusk 2-3 0-0 4, Jensen 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-53 4-8 71.

Halftime-Whitworth 43, Pacific Lutheran 33. 3-point goals- Pacific Lutheran 4-17 (Dordal 3-4, Makanani 1-5, Miller 0-1, Vander Ploeg 0-1, Wang 0-1, Hatlen 0-1, Kelly 0-4), Whitworth 7-15 (Meserve 4-6, Gazdik 1-1, Ramey 1-2, Nelson 1-4, Rusk 0-1, Jensen 0-1). Fouled out-Luce. Rebounds-Pacific Lutheran 32 (Mendez 9), Whitworth 28 (Luce 7). Assists-Pacific Lutheran 9 (Kelly 5), Whitworth 21 (Gazdik 7). Total fouls-Pacific Lutheran 13, Whitworth 21. Technicals-Rusk. A-1,178.

Dixie 73, North Idaho 66

Marcus Banks and Vance Lawhorn tossed in 17 points apiece and the Rebels made their free throws down the stretch to upend the Cardinals in Scenic West Athletic Conference action in St. George, Utah.

Damon Hunter hit 8 of 12 shots from the floor and scored a game-high 20 points for NIC (15-10, 5-8). Russell Ware added 17 points. Hunter also snared a team-high 10 rebounds.

North Idaho (15-10, 5-8) - Hunter 8-12 2-2 20, Franklin 3-7 0-0 9, Ware 6-16 3-3 17, Petty 2-10 0-0 5, Johnson 3-9 2-2 10, Boyd 2-2 1-2 5, Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, O’Dowd 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 8-9 66.

Dixie (16-9, 9-5) - Banks 5-15 7-10 17, Backstrand 2-3 0-0 5, Baker 5-10 3-4 14, Clark 5-8 2-2 12, Lawhorn 6-9 5-8 17, Batte 1-2 0-0 2, Griffin 1-4 1-1 4, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-52 18-25 73.

Halftime - Dixie 35, North Idaho 34. 3-point goals - North Idaho 10-31 (Franklin 3-6, Hunter 2-3, Johnson 2-6, Ware 2-9, Petty 1-6, O’Dowd 0-1), Dixie 3-7 (Backstrand 1-2, Baker 1-2, Griffin 1-2, Banks 0-1). Fouled out - Hunter. Rebounds - North Idaho 31 (Hunter 10), Dixie 35 (Clark 13). Assists - North Idaho 7 (Boyd 2), Dixie 12 (Baker 4). Total fouls - North Idaho 21, Dixie 14. Technicals - none. A - 2,000.