Eagles Turn Back Lutes

Mariah Stacona with two of her 21 points.

Box Score KIRKLAND, Wash. - Northwest University's freshman guard, Mariah Stacona scored 21 points to help lead the Eagles to a 62-48 non-league victory over Pacific Lutheran tonight.

Northwest U (6-6) led 30-28 at halftime and then held the Lutes to 8 points in the fourth quarter as they dropped in 14 points to pull away for the win.

The Eagles jumped out to a 14-6 lead four minutes into the first quarter with seven straight points by Brianna Fiso, Mariah Stacona and Charmaine Bradford. The Lutes would stay close with timely baskets by Samantha Kelleigh, but NU would hold on to take an 18-14 lead at the end of the quarter.

The game remained close in the second half as the teams exchanged leads four times in the period. With PLU leading 28-27, Jordan Asher would hit a 3-pointer with 2:03 as NU would regain the lead 30-28 as the score would hold up the remainder of the period.

NU would lead the entire third quarter and would push their lead to nine twice as Charmaine Bradford would drill a jumper with 4 seconds on the clock to give NU a 48-40 lead as the buzzer would sound.

Paige Burson came off the bench for NU and scored 10 points while coming down with 6 rebounds. Miranda Langenhorst scored 8 points and finished with 6 rebounds as the Eagles shot 37 percent for the night. NU held a 48-38 rebounding margin over PLU.

The Eagles would outscore the Lutes 7-2 to start the final period to lead by 13, 55-42, at 7:32. PLU would not be able to make up any ground as NU would go on to post their sixth win of the season and even their record at 6-6.

In addition to Stacona's 21 points, she added three steals as the Eagles pressure defense would force 21 PLU turnovers leading to 20 NU points. The Eagles also outscored the Lutes in the paint 32-10 aided by 15 offensive rebounds.

PLU (2-3) was led by Samantha Kelleigh's 16 points hitting 5 of 13 from the 3-point line. Megan Abdo and Sarah Barnes each scored 10 points as the NU defense held the Lutes to 27 percent shooting.

"It was a good win tonight," commented Eagle head coach, Ken Crawford. "We continue to learn how to deal with game situations. I'm proud of our effort tonight and look forward to continuing our growth."

Northwest U will travel to Ellensburg tomorrow for an exhibition game with Central Washington at 7 p.m.

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