Setting the Scene: The Lutes resume their eight game homestand tonight, welcoming Manchester University from the Hoosier State to Olson Gymnasium.
Series History: The Lutes and Spartans have never met on the hardwood. In fact, it will be PLU's first-ever meeting between PLU and any team from the state of Indiana.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (6-3) led wire-to-wire on Friday night, surging ahead early and never looking back to steamroll Northwest Indian College 85-35 to remain undefeated inside Olson Gymnasium.
"I like how our team competed tonight," said Head Coach Lee Aduddell.
"We had goals for transition points and offensive rebounds that we exceeded and each player contributed. We wanted to dig in defensively, and we did that, especially in the second half."
Ava Edmonds scored the Lutes' (6-3) opening five points as the hosts jumped to an early 13-1 lead on a Raylie Wardenaar three with 7:15 remaining in the first quarter. PLU's lead grew to as many as 18 in the opening quarter, enjoying a 29-13 edge over the Eagles (1-9) after 10 minutes of action.
Emma Moore drained a three with under a minute to go before halftime, enjoying a 48-20 halftime advantage. PLU had lock down defense in the third quarter, limiting the Eagles to a single point en route to the 50-point victory.
Sydney Reisner paced the Lutes, scoring 19-points after hitting all seven of her shots from the floor, including a trio of threes. Edmonds added 13 points and seven rebounds while Ashley Akamine was the third Lute in double figures, adding 11.
PLU outrebounded the Eagles 54-23, including a 19-4 edge on the offensive glass while enjoying a 19-3 edge in second chance points. The Lutes held a 23-6 advantage in fast break points and a 34-11 spread in bench production. Pacific Lutheran drained 13 threes on the night and limited NW Indian to shooting just 25.5 percent (13-for-51) from the field.
The sharpshooting Lutes rank 11th nationally (out of 422 teams) in three-point percentage, hitting 36.9 percent of its shots from beyond the arc.
PLU leads the NWC in scoring defense, allowing just 52.8 points per game and ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting 40.1 percent of its shots.
Sydney Reisner is a big catalyst for the Lutes' deep threat, ranking fifth nationally in three-point field goal shooting (54.5 percent). Brandie Tobin is the Lutes' leader in assists, ranking fifth in the NWC with 3.7 per game.
Messin' with Texas: The Lutes visited the Lone Star State over the Thanksgiving break and came away with a trio of wins. PLU's good fortunes began the day before Thanksgiving, draining a school single game record 14 treys in a 50-47 victory over host Texas Lutheran University.
The Lutes knocked off Concordia University 75-67 on Black Friday before closing the trip the following day with a 53-37 thrashing of Southwestern University. The three victories was part of a larger four-game win streak for the Lutes, the program's biggest streak since stringing together seven in a row during the 2018-2019 campaign.
About the Spartans: Manchester (3-6) leaves the Midwest for the Pacific Northwest looking to snap a four-game slide.
The Spartans outlasted Kalamazoo (Mich) 74-64 in overtime on Nov. 25 but its been tough sledding in December, opening Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with losses to Mount Saint Joseph (63-43), Bluffton (63-48), #2 Transylvania (83-43), and Franklin (78-58).
Manchester's last game on Dec. 16 against Franklin saw the Spartans leading 16-12 after one quarter of play but were outscored 30-9 in the second 10 minutes and 54-27 over the second and third quarters in the 20-point defeat.
Hailee Kline leads the Spartans in scoring, starting all nine games and averaging 10.1 points per game. Maddi Smith adds 9.3 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game while Kendal Rider is the leading distributer with 2.6 assists per game.
1 Weekend. 3 Championships.
Check out all the celebration highlights below as PLU volleyball, women's soccer, and men's soccer all clinched league titles on Senior Day weekend on Oct. 28-29.
Fall Sports Recap
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Summer Lutes
PLU men's soccer student-athlete Elijah Singleton had a busy summer serving as an intern in a lab at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Learn more about his daily routine in the video below.
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Next Home Game:
Dec. 29 vs. Northwest at 4 p.m.
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu