Buzzer Beater Caps Pacific Lutheran's 65-64 Comeback Victory

By Brandon Chinn, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, ORE. -- In a Northwest Conference women's basketball game that was dominated bypositives for Willamette and contained an 11-point Bearcat lead in the second half, it took just oneMegan Abdo layupto re-write the script and send Pacific Lutheran Universityto a 65-64 victory.

With eight seconds remaining in regulation and the'Catsclinging on to a one-point lead, Abdo drove the lane andmissed a four-foot layup. The ball caromed off the rim and wentright back to Abdo, who put it back in as time expired.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 5-17 overall with the win (2-11NWC), while the Bearcats drop to 6-17 (1-13 NWC).

After leading by seven points at halftime, Willamettewas aheadfor the first 19:59 of the second half before Abdo's game-winner gave the Lutes the lead in the final second. Pacific Lutheran closed the game onan 14-6 run in the final 4:17 of action.

For the Bearcats, Kylie Towry (Fr., G, Medford, OR/South Medford HS) scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting (4 of 9 on 3-pointers) and hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

Jojo DeLong (Sr., PG, Santa Clarita, CA./Canyon High School) scored a game-high 15 points and hit 6 of 11 field goals, while fellow senior Julia Brand (F, Kaneohe, HI) finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Abdo led the scoring column for Pacific Lutheran with 14 points. Taylor Flemming scored 12 points, Sarah Barnes chipped in 11 and Lacey Nicholson achieved 10.

The Lutes finished with 18 offensive rebounds, seven of which came in the final 3:02. Willamette grabbed 12 rebounds on the offensive side.

PLU scored the first four points of the contestbefore Willamette went on a 7-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 7-6.

The Bearcats attained their largest lead of the half right before intermission, when a 3-pointer by DeLong stretched Willamette's lead to 36-29.

At the start of the second half, the Bearcats went on a 6-2 run to extend their lead to 42-31 with 17:23 remaining. PLU tallied the next eight points to pull within 42-39 on a layup by Taylor Talen at the 14:24 mark. WU surged back out to a 56-45 advantage after Ashley Evans (Fr., PG, Canby, OR/Canby HS) hit a 3-pointer with 9:26 left.

The Lutes reduced the lead to 56-51 with 6:34 to play when Abdo sank 1 of 2 free throws. The Bearcats held a 58-51 margin after Kelsey Walker (Fr., G, Westerville, OH/Westerville North HS) made a jumper with 5:34 remaining. Flemming connected on a 3-pointer for the Lutes with 4:17 left, starting PLU's game-ending run.

Willamette will hit the road on Friday, Feb. 20 to take on Linfield College at 6 p.m. (PST) in McMinnville, Ore. WU's final home game of the 2014-15 seasonis slated for the very next day (Feb. 21) against Pacific University, with the Bearcats honoring their five seniors prior to the game. Tipoff for senior night is set for 4 p.m.