NEWBERG, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran shot the ball well, piled up lots of assists and stayed with George Fox in the rebounding department on Sunday, but the Lutes undid themselves with turnovers in dropping a 71-51 Northwest Conference women's basketball decision to the third-ranked Bruins.
PLU turned the ball over 23 times compared to just 10 for the Bruins, and as a result saw its record drop to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the conference. George Fox, the third-ranked team according to both the d3hoops.com and national coaches polls, is now 17-0 overall and 8-0 after the first round of conference play.
Katelyn Smith, a sophomore post out of Yelm, had a strong game for PLU, scoring a career-high 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field. She added six rebounds, six assists and five steals in one of her best all-around performances as a collegiate player.
Shelly Kilcup scored all 15 of her points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the three-point line, while Samantha Potter added 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Lutes.
Keisha Gordon, a two-time first team all-conference player for the Bruins, led her team with 18 points. Megan Arnoldy added 11 points, while 6-foot 5-inch center Hannah Munger added nine points and nine rebounds.
Kilcup hit a pair of three-pointers to give PLU a 6-5 lead one minute into the game, and the Lutes had the lead through most of the first 15 minutes. Pacific Lutheran built its largest lead at 23-17 on a Kilcup triple with 8:30 showing on the clock.
A layup by Potter gave the Lutes a 27-23 advantage with 5:42 left in the half, but they did not score again in the period while during that same time frame the Bruins tallied 14 points. Gordon played a big role in the run with 11 consecutive points.
Trailing 37-27 at the intermission, the Lutes never got closer than that 10-point margin in the second half.
PLU shot 44 percent from the field (21-for-48), had 17 assists on its 21 baskets, and also stayed within three rebounds of the much bigger Bruins, who ended the game making 43 percent of their shots (27-for-63).
The Lutes return to conference action at 6 p.m. Friday when they host the Linfield Wildcats in Olson Auditorium.
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