DAYTONA BEACH, Fla - With a 55-53 victory on Friday afternoon against Berry College, the Pacific Lutheran women's basketball team finished the 2012 Daytona Beach Shootout with two wins and no losses.
With the victory, their third in a row, the Lutes improved their record to 3-6. Berry is now 4-5 this season.
Katelyn Smith, a junior post, had her best game of the young campaign since returning from last year's season-ending knee injury and subsequent surgery. Smith tied Megan Abdo for team scoring honors with 12 points, and she led the way with nine rebounds, all in 22 minutes of action.
Smith made big plays with two assists and a basket in the final 2 1/2 minutes to help PLU secure the victory.
After Chanlir Segarra hit a layup to put Berry ahead 47-46 with 4:22 remaining in the contest, Smith passed to Chrissy Swope for a basket that put the Lutes ahead to stay, 48-47, with 2:21 to play. About 30 seconds later, following a Berry turnover, Smith found Samantha Potter under the basket for a layup and a 50-47 PLU lead, that with 1:46 left.
After a layup by Austin Schorno gave Pacific Lutheran a 52-47 advantage with 1:11 on the clock, Mel McLean hit a three-point basket to pull the Vikings within two points, 52-50, with just under one minute left.
The Lutes were able to work the clock down to 28 seconds when Smith hit a jumper, the assist going to Schorno, to make it 54-50 in favor of PLU.
Alexa Evans answered five seconds later with a three to pull Berry within one point before Megan Abdo hit the first of two free throws with 10 seconds left, giving PLU a 55-53 advantage. Segarra missed a potential game-winning three-point shot just before the final buzzer as the Lutes held on for the victory.
The game started out like a Berry blowout as the Vikings scored nine unanswered points in the first 2 1/2 minutes. Undaunted, PLU came back and took its first lead of the game at 19-18 on Abdo's layup with 8:08 left in the opening half. Berry eventually held a 27-23 advantage at the half.
Abdo, a freshman point guard, had another strong game for Pacific Lutheran with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Potter added 10 points and nine rebounds and Kara Sherman contributed eight points, six rebounds and six steals.
McLean led the Vikings with 17 points, followed by Tara Mullinax with 11 and Evans with 10. Segarra, Berry's leading scorer at more than 20 points a game, was held to just nine points on 4-for-12 shooting by the PLU defense.
- PLU -