Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team closes the books on its four game homestand tonight, welcoming in-state rival Whitworth University to Olson Gymnasium.
Series History: This will be the 85th all-time meeting between the Lutes and Pirates since the 1980-1981 campaign with Whitworth holding a 47-37 advantage in the series.
The Pirates have won the last six meetings, including slipping past the Lutes 56-53 in the NWC opener back on Jan. 3.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (7-10, 4-4 NWC) is red hot, heading into the weekend having won three straight games and four of its last five.
Last weekend, the Lutes picked up a pair of home wins, running past Lewis & Clark College 61-52 last Friday night before scoring 17 of the opening 20 points in a 61-50 win the following evening against Pacific University.
Sydney Reisner led the Lutes over Lewis & Clark, dropping 13 points while Taylor Schmidtke added 12. Brooke Samura had a double-double for the second time this winter, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds in a game PLU outrebounded the visiting Pioneers 42-26.
The Lutes surged to a 17-3 lead with 94 seconds left in the opening quarter in a dominant victory over the Boxers that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. PLU led by as many as 20 points in the second half, getting 13 points from Schmidtke and 12 from Samura who also had seven boards and three steals while Jaida Wood hauled in 12 rebounds.
PLU leads the NWC in rebounding, averaging 39.8 per game while sitting second in offensive rebounds (12.9), and third in field goal percentage defense (36.3).
Sydney Reisner is the Lutes' leader in scoring, averaging 11.8 points per game while Brooke Samura adds 8.5 ppg and 5.5 rebounds per game and has been in double figures in each of the last five conference games. Taylor Schmidtke checks in at 7.8 ppg while Stacie Spahr— the only Lute to start all 17 games— leads the team on the glass with 6.8 rebounds per game.
Lock Down D: PLU's defense has been outstanding all season, holding opponents under 60 points in 12 of the 17 games this season.
That defense put the clamps on George Fox on Jan. 11 inside Olson Gymnasium, holding the Bruins to just two points in the second quarter. It's the fewest points scored by an NCAA team against the Lutes in a period since women's college basketball moved from halves to quarters during the 2015-2016 season. It's also the third best effort in a quarter with PLU holding Northwest Indian College to just one point in a blowout 85-35 win back on Dec. 15, 2023 while the Lutes pitched a second quarter shutout of NWIC on Nov. 12, 2021, outscoring the Eagles 27-0 in that 10 minute segment in a 93-20 victory.
About the Pirates: Whitworth (6-11, 3-5 NWC) opened the league slate by winning three of its first four but has hit a dry spell, going 0-4 over the past two weeks.
The Pirates last win was a 69-59 triumph at home at the expense of Lewis & Clark College, a game that host Whitworth outscored the Pios 21-11 in the second quarter. Ashlyn Peterson was the star for the Pirates, draining four treys and finishing with 24 points.
It's been tough sledding since, falling 72-50 on the road to George Fox University on Feb. 17. 66-59 to Pacific on Jan. 18, 80-43 to Whitman College on Jan. 21, and 76-59 to Linfield University last Friday. Mya Bair had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the loss to the Wildcats, a game that Whitworth led after one quarter before getting outscored in each of the final three quarters.
Ashlyn Peterson heads into the weekend averaging 14.3 points per game with a team-high 68 assists and three steals. Julianna Jeross nets 10.4 ppg but hasn't suited up for the squad since Jan. 10 while Mya Bair offers 9.3 ppg and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game and 17 blocks. Peterson, Bair, and Keely Maves are the three Pirates that have started every game this season.
Whitworth is one of the best teams in the nation at the charity stripe, sitting 17th nationally in free throw percentage, shooting free throws at a 75.9 percent clip.
Luteville Highlights
Check out the highlights from the last home weekend in Luteville.
Giving Back to the Community
The PLU women's basketball program continues to give back to the community. In the fall, the Lutes volunteered with Metro Parks Tacoma doing a restoration project at Catherine Ursich Park before volunteering at a Special Olympics basketball clinic in mid January. Learn more about the two service projects below.
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
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.
Last spring PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first school in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!
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. 11: 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