Right now, this is what the Puget Sound women’s basketball team is:
• The Loggers are prone to shooting slumps, but somehow make game endings extremely exciting.
• Featuring long-armed athletes with active hands, they would rather tirelessly defend you from 94 feet, not inside their own arc.
• And against the very good teams, they often get close – as was the case Saturday night in a 70-64 Northwest Conference loss to eighth-ranked Lewis & Clark at Memorial Fieldhouse – but find a way to fritter it away.
The trend unsettles second-year UPS coach Loree Payne, who watched her squad battle back from a 10-point deficit with 11 minutes, 31 seconds to go, only to misfire on all five 3-point shots in the final 21/2 minutes to try and take a lead.
“I felt like we rushed a couple of them,” Payne said. “We were having a lot of success driving to the basket ... and in the last couple minutes, we settled for quick looks.”
Say this, the Loggers frantically battle, even when outmanned against a talented Pioneers team (16-1 overall, 7-1 NWC) that will likely battle George Fox for the conference title right down to the wire.
Pacific Lutheran 62, at Pacific 48: Samantha Potter had 20 points and 13 rebounds – her seventh double-double of the season – and the Lutes (5-11, 2-7 NWC) snapped their seven-game skid with a victory in Forest Grove, Ore. The Lutes jumped out to a 12-2 lead, and never trailed.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
At UPS 76, Lewis & Clark 74: The Loggers nearly squandered all of a 16-point lead with five minutes to go, but Caleb Shelton-Johnson preserved with her two free throws with 6.2 seconds to play.
After Julian Fernandez made a 6-foot bank shot, UPS (13-4, 5-3 in NWC) held a 67-51 lead with 5:10 remaining.
After that, the Pioneers (9-8, 4-4) went on a 21-7 run – to cut it to 74-72, and actually had a chance to tie the game after getting a backcourt steal with 17 seconds remaining. But Marcus Wells and P.J. Taylor missed two shots in the lane, and UPS got the ball back on a jump ball with 7.1 seconds to go.
Anthony Gittens scored 19 points, and had a double-double by halftime (17 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots).
PLU 77, at Pacific 56: Cameron Schilling had a team-high 18 points. Andrew Earnest had 17, including 10 during the Lutes’ key first half run as PLU won its third game in a row in Forest Grove.
Trailing 18-17, PLU (8-8, 5-2 in NWC) went on a 15-0 run, fueled by Earnest. Schilling capped it with a jumper to give the Lutes a 32-18 lead with 3:59 to go.
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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