Pacific Lutheran's women's basketball team couldn't find its stride and fell to Linfield, 62-49, Friday night at Olson Auditorium. The win was the first in Northwest Conference play for the visiting Wildcats, while PLU lost its sixth straight game.
PLU is now 3-9 in conference and 6-13 overall. This loss puts the Lutes on a six-game losing streak dating back to a Jan. 12 home victory over Willamette. With the win, Linfield is now 2-14 overall and 1-9 in the conference.
Linfield took control of the game early, scoring its first basket, a jumper by Kaely Maltman, just under a minute into the game. The Wildcats continued to dominate early in the half, their tough zone defense allowed the Lutes only one point, a free throw by Megan Abdo, in the first 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Linfield increased its lead to 16-1 with four different players scoring points, including Katelyn Henson's three-point basket. At 10:47, Katelyn Smith grabbed a missed shot by Sarah Barnes and put it back in, giving the Lutes their first basket of the game.
PLU gained tempo late in the half, a pair of free throws and a basket by Potter, followed by a jumper by Kara Sherman at 7:49, cutting the deficit to 20-11. With Tasha Rowland and Kaely Maltman combining to scored the final 10 points of the half, however, the Wildcats pulled away and took a 33-17 lead into the half.
The Lutes shot 23 percent (6-for-26) in the first half and turned the ball over nine times, while Linfield shot 45 percent (14-for-31) from the field and collected 22 rebounds as a team.
The Lutes came out stronger in the second half, with two of the first three baskets going in their favor. However, Linfield managed to counter every Lutes basket almost immediately. Megan Abdo's layup at 15:02 put the Lutes down by single digits for the only time in the half at 39-30. That nine-point deficit was ended just 20 seconds later when Catie Mets hit two free throws.
With 5:57 left to play, Kaely Maltman hit a free throw shot to put Linfield up 60-43, the biggest lead it would enjoy. A last-second three-pointer by Sarah Barnes would be the last point PLU put on the board as Linfield walked away with the 62-49 win.
Samantha Potter led up the Lutes with 22 points and nine rebounds. The Lutes shot 37 percent (20-for-53) from the field but just 20 percent (3-for-15) from beyond the three-point arc. They had 28 rebounds compared to 34 for the Wildcats, and they finished with 15 turnovers.
Maltman had an outstanding night for Linfield with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Taylor Solomon had 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and directed an offense that ended up with 44 percent (22-for-50) shooting accuracy.
The Lutes head to Oregon next weekend to take on Willamette and Pacific with both games scheduled for 6 p.m. tipoffs.
- PLU -
By Brenna Sussman, PLU Sports Information Assistant