Setting the Scene: A nearly two-month homestand spanning eight games comes to a close today as the Lutes welcome NWC rival Pacific to Olson Gymnasium.
Series History: This is the 85th all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Lutes and Boxers with PLU owning a 46-38 edge in the series that first began in the 1980-1981 season.
The Boxers have won five straight, sweeping the season series last winter. Pacific bested the Lutes 47-37 inside Olson Gymnasium last year on Jan. 21 before securing a 62-36 victory in Forest Grove on Feb. 17.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (9-4, 1-3 NWC) experienced mixed results last weekend as they resumed Northwest Conference play. PLU extended its win streak to five straight last Friday with a 61-58 triumph over George Fox University before falling short 62-47 to NWC leading Willamette University on Saturday.
Ashley Akamine was the star on Friday night, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds while sealing the game in the final seconds with a huge block on a potential game-tying three from the Bruins.
PLU took the lead for good with 89 seconds left in the game and the Lutes' staunch defense limited the Bruins to shooting just 33.3 percent (20-for-60) from the field.
On Saturday, the NWC-leading Bearcats outscored the Lutes 37-22 over the middle two quarters to cruise to a 15-point victory.
Akamine again paced the Lutes, dropping 11 points and securing eight rebounds with Brandie Tobin distributing a team-best five assists.
The stout Lute defense leads the NWC in field goal defense, limiting opponents to shooting just 34.5 percent from the floor while offensively, Sydney Reisner continues to be one of the top shooters in all NCAA Division III, ranking second nationally after shooting at a 50.0 percent clip from beyond the arc.
Reisner leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game while draining a team-best 28 threes on the year. Ava Edmonds adds 9.5 ppg with Ashley Akamine contributing 9.4 ppg.
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 6-1 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 Boxers: NWC-leading Pacific (8-5, 4-1 NWC) heads to Tacoma riding a three-game win streak.
The Boxers closed out 2023 with a 67-63 home loss to Calvin (Mich.) but have since picked up conference wins over Puget Sound (55-44), George Fox (69-66), and Willamette (75-64) to force a tie atop the NWC standings.
Tuesday's win over Willamette wasn't easy with the Boxers needing two overtimes to sneak away with the home victory. Pacific outscored the Bearcats 22-9 in the fourth quarter to force overtime and outscored Willamette 13-2 in double overtime to secure the win.
Rilee Price set the tone with 19 points while Alexis Intong added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Brilie Kovaloff is the Boxers' leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points per game and hitting a team best 20 treys on the season. Sydney Gray adds 9.8 ppg and 5.3 rebounds per game while Alexis Intong is good for 8.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg.
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:
Jan. 23 vs. Puget Sound 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