Written by Student Assistant Jake Bilyeu

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team opened up its eastern Washington road trip on Friday night by outscoring Northwest Conference rival Whitworth University in the fourth quarter but it was too little, too late, falling 87-60 to the host Pirates. A strong third quarter for the Pirates (8-10, 3-6 NWC) opened up an evenly matched game, as a brief Lute slump pulled victory out of their reach.

The Lutes outscored host Whitworth 24-22 over the final 10 minutes of the contest but the damage was already done with the Pirates outscoring PLU 30-8 in the third quarter.

"We came out very tentative on offense and sluggish on defense," head coach Jennifer Childress said. "Whitworth earned that victory."

Madison Salisbury and Emma Janousek led the Lutes (5-13, 1-8 NWC) offense Friday night. Janousek hit seven of her 12 shots to finish with 16 points. She also garnered five steals and three assists. Salisbury followed her up with 15 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field while also grabbing seven boards.

Anna Hurd also provided the Lutes with a strong performance. The junior made four of her seven shots on the night, finishing with nine points, while securing five boards and two assists.

The Lutes outscored the Pirates 36-28 in the paint, but they were done in by the three–point and free-throw shooting of their hosts, who made seven-of-20 from behind the arc while hitting 20 out of 25 free throw attempts.

Additionally, while the Lutes remained just behind in the turnover battle, 22-17, the Pirates nearly tripled the Lutes' scoring output on those turnovers, out scoring them 33-12 on possessions earned through takeaways.

"We hope to bring a higher level of energy to Whitman's court tomorrow," Childress said. "We've got to get back to playing Lute basketball"

The Lutes return to the court on Saturday for a 4 p.m. matchup against conference-leading Whitman College in Walla Walla.