In a hard-fought rivalry game against the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, the Lady Loggers basketball team pulled away in the second half for an 81-68 victory.
The game started off with a volley of baskets in the first couple of minutes as both teams came out firing. The Loggers’, however, were able to rely on an impressive passing game, 20 forced turnovers and 27-29 shooting at the free-throw line to hold the lead throughout most of the game. Despite all this, the Lutes were close on their tail with a score of 29-34 coming into the second half.
In the second half, the game intensified with more offensive pressure from both teams. The Loggers fell behind for a short time but quickly regained the lead. In the last five minutes, the Loggers pulled far ahead with a bombardment of shots to claim the win.
After the game, Head Coach Loree Payne shared, “Coming off a weekend after two overtime games, a Tuesday game is a tough turnaround. The team really put it together and played hard. They came out and put their hearts and souls out on the floor. We were able to claim that Tacoma pride and get the win over PLU.”
Junior Jocelyn Riordan (Lake Forest Park, Wash.), who led the team with 26 points in the game, commented, “Every time we play PLU we get pretty excited. They’re our rivals so we always want to play our best game. We didn’t quite do that in the first half, they hung around a little longer that we would’ve liked but in the end we wanted it more and pulled out the win.”
Sophomore Lindsay Layland (Homer, Alaska.) had similar thoughts. “We had a slow start, but we knew coming into the second half that if we wanted to get to the Northwest Tournament we were going to need to pull it together and play as a team, so we did.”
“Our goal right now is to go three for three for the next three games and from there on, hopefully we’ll take a conference title,” she added later.
Sophomore Kelsey McKinnis (Ashland, Ore.), who also scored an impressive 20 points during the game, added, “We have a goal to come out with the next game against Linfield and be able to put together two solid halves without having to turn it up at half time.”
When asked about the upcoming weeks, Coach Payne commented, “I think we’ve hit a turning point in our season where there’s only three weeks left now. Having won on Tuesday, we secured an extra week that we get to play. With two and a half weeks now it’s gut check time. They just have to come out, put it all on the floor and really start gelling together. We’ve hit that turning point. We’re climbing a hill right now, we’re looking up and we’re excited about what’s on top.”
Unfortunately, our Lady Loggers weren’t able to pull out a win against Linfield as they fell apart in the second half and lost 57-46.
However, they still have a chance of claiming the NWC title based on their next two away games against Lewis & Clark and George Fox.
The team has had an impressive season so far with only five losses throughout all 23 games, so they have a great chance of pulling together some more wins in the coming week.
“We appreciate the student section coming out. They’ve been awesome with their signs, and their support really makes home court an advantage for us when they’re loud and cheering,” Coach Payne said.