Setting the Scene: The Lutes close out their two-game homestand today, welcoming Oregon rival Linfield University to Olson Gymnasium.
Series History: Today is the 88th all-time meeting between PLU and Linfield since the 1980-1981 season with the Lutes enjoying a 51-36 edge in the all-time series.
The Lutes and Wildcats last met on Dec. 1 in McMinnville with host Linfield coming away with a 65-55 victory. Ava Edmonds led the Lutes with 19 points in a game that saw the Wildcats use a 10-0 run that spanned both halves to take control.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (9-9, 1-8 NWC) put together a gritty defensive effort on Wednesday night, hanging tough with crosstown rival Puget Sound before eventually falling short 48-39.
There were three lead changes and eight ties during the NWC clash with the score deadlocked after one quarter of play and at halftime. A Rylie Wardenaar three put the Lutes up 28-25 in the third but the Loggers scored seven unanswered and would play with the lead the rest of the evening.
Ava Edmonds highlighted the night with her first double-double of the season, dropping 13 points with 11 rebounds while Ashley Akamine added 10 points.
PLU limited the Loggers to shooting just 8.7 percent (two-for-23) from beyond the arc, out rebounded the visitors 40-39, and had more free throws made (11) than the Loggers had attempts (six).
Sydney Reisner leads the Lute scoring attack, averaging 11.8 points per game while draining a team-best 32 threes on the season. Ava Edmonds adds 9.7 ppg while Ashley Akamine had a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game. Brandie Tobin is the top distributer for the Lutes, dishing out 67 assists on the year and ranking fourth in the conference with 3.8 assists per game.
PLU ranks second in the NWC as a team in scoring defense, allowing just 54.9 points per game.
Evergreen State Living: The Lutes are in the midst of 13 straight games played in the State of Washington, a stretch that includes 10 home games and 11 games played in the City of Tacoma.
The Lutes last out of state game was on Dec. 1 against Linfield in McMinnville, Oregon.
Olson Magic: Luteville fans have made Olson Gymnasium one of the toughest venues for opposing teams to play in this season. Across three sports— women's basketball, men's basketball, and volleyball— the Lutes won 21 straight to open the academic year.
PLU women's hoops is currently 6-4 this season at home.
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.
Noteworthy Non-League Lutes: PLU's eight wins in non-conference play this winter is the program's most since racking up 10 during the 2005-06 season and the most regular season non-conference victories since the 1994-1995 campaign.
About the Wildcats: Linfield (9-8, 4-4 NWC) heads into the weekend having dropped two of its last three games. The Wildcats fell short 61-57 to Whitworth on Jan. 13 to close out a homestand before securing a 54-49 victory over George Fox four days later. Last Friday the Wildcats ran into a buzzsaw, stumbling 70-46 to Pacific.
Against GFU, it was a big fourth quarter that secured the win with the visiting Cats outscoring the Bruins 17-11 over the final 10 minutes. Ella Koebelin led the charge, finishing with a team-high 14 points.
Linfield led Pacific after one quarter of play but was outscored 25-6 in the second and a combined 51-20 over the two middle quarters as the Boxers cruised to the win.
Against Whitman, the Loggers led by five with 3:36 left in overtime but the host Blues buckled down, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to ice the win. On Sunday the script was reversed. UPS outscored Whitman 24-6 in the fourth quarter and overtime to secure the win.
Gillyan Landis leads the way for the Cats, averaging 10.8 points per game with Eve Burke contributing 10.4 ppg. Ella Koebelin nets 9.0 ppg while Miki Vermeulen takes care of business on the glass, averaging a team-best 9.0 rebounds 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:
Feb. 16 vs. Whitworth at 6 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