Setting the Scene: The Lutes unpack their bags after a weekend in eastern Washington, opening a two-game homestand tonight against intracity rival Puget Sound.
Series History: The Lutes and Loggers have met 92 times on the hardwood since the 1980-1981 season with the scales tilted 64-27 in favor of Puget Sound.
The Loggers have won seven straight in the series, including a 64-40 victory back on Dec. 5 inside UPS's Memorial Fieldhouse. It was a game the Loggers pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Lutes 30-13 over the second and third quarters to secure the win.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (9-8, 1-7 NWC) returns to the friendly confines of Olson Gymnasium for a midweek tilt with the Loggers. The Lutes were in eastern Washington over the weekend, dropping a 64-56 decision to Whitworth on Saturday and falling 60-42 to nationally-ranked Whitman on Sunday.
Against Whitworth, an Ashley Akamine layup with 2:14 left pulled the Lutes to within a possession of the hosts but PLU misfired on its final five shots of the night as the Pirates hit late free throws to escape with the win.
The following day against 21st-ranked Whitman, the host Blues scored the opening 11 points and never looked back in the wire-to-wire win. PLU pulled within five on several occasions, including with 50 seconds left in the second quarter but was unable to come any closer.
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 9.5 ppg while Ashley Akamine had a team-best 4.8 rebounds per game. Brandie Tobin is the top distributer for the Lutes, dishing out 64 assists on the year and ranking third in the conference with 3.8 assists per game.
PLU ranks second in the NWC as a team in scoring defense, allowing just 55.3 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 6-3 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 Loggers: Puget Sound (11-6, 5-3 NWC) heads into the midweek clash having won two of its last three games. The Loggers rolled Lewis & Clark 61-44 on Jan. 13 before coming up short 64-61 in overtime to nationally-ranked Whitman on Saturday. UPS rebounded on Sunday with a 66-59 overtime win over Whitworth.
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.
Kennedy Brown leads the Loggers' in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game while Paige Gerhart adds 12.3 ppg. Katie Minnehan leads the team on the glass, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game and leads the NWC in steals with 3.4 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:
Jan. 27 vs. Linfield 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