Concordia's Rebecca Gimeno recorded 11 points and a game-high six assists on Saturday night against the Lutes.
Cavaliers Withstand Late Lute Run
PORTLAND, Ore.—Watching a double-digit lead evaporate late in the second half, the Concordia women’s basketball rattled off 11 consecutive points in the final minutes to defeat Pacific Lutheran 65-55 in non-conference action on Saturday night.
With the win, CU improved to 2-1 on the year while PLU dropped to 1-1. Concordia will play at Linfield College tomorrow with a 7 p.m. tip in McMinnville, Ore.
After five ties in the first 12 minutes of play, the Cavaliers used a 10-2 run late in the opening period to catapult themselves into an 11-point lead, but PLU’s Trinity Gibbons (Riddle, Ore.) would swish a last-second jumper to make it a nine-point gap heading into intermission.
In the second half, CU would extended the margin to 16 points with a pair of Maryam Razavi (Tualatin, Ore.) free throws, but the visitors would respond with 15 unanswered, highlighted by a trio of deep three-point shots by Jordan Westerling (Puyallup, Wash.), to shave the deficit to a single point.
Angela Gimeno (Spokane, Wash.), taking a feed by Ann Snodderly (Portland, Ore.), quelled the Lutes charge with a return three-pointer, but Gibbons would match the effort the next time down the court with a successful shot from long range to bring the game back to a one-point affair.
It would be as close as the Lutes would come the rest of way as CU would score 11 consecutive points, four via the free throw line and three by way of Angela Gimeno’s second three pointer of the half to push the Cavs to the 65-55 win.
“I thought the kids battled. We let them come back into the game, but we had the will to overcome it by stepping up at the right time,” Concordia head coach Aaron Christian said.
Concordia’s Danielle Clauson (Edmonds, Wash.) led all scorers with 18 points. Rebecca Gimeno (Spokane, Wash.) followed with 11 points and Angela Gimeno recorded 10 points as three Cavs reached double figures. Snodderly led the team with seven rebounds.
After missing on all seven three-point attempts in the first half, the Lutes connected on 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc in the second half. Emily Voorhies (Auburn, Wash.) paced the Lute attack with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double performance.