TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball squad returns to Olson Gymnasium after the Thanksgiving break, hosting Warner Pacific University on Saturday in the Lutes' final tune-up before beginning Northwest Conference play.
PLU opened the season last Friday, dominating the glass but unable to come away with the victory, falling 66-57 to visiting Trinity University.
The Lutes hauled in an impressive 21 offensive rebounds and owned a 47-23 rebounding edge over the Tigers. PLU additionally outscored the Texans in both the second and third quarters but was unable to erase an early deficit as Trinity led wire-to-wire.
Kristin Sturdivan paced the Lutes with 11 points while
Emma Janousek chipped in 10 while dishing out six assists.
Madison Salisbury added nine along with a game-high 16 rebounds.
Saturday's clash is the Lutes final chance to knock off the rust before beginning Northwest Conference play next week. The Lutes make the short drive across town to face the University of Puget Sound on Tuesday before trekking to Oregon to face Linfield College on Friday. After that two game foray into league play, PLU will then resume non-conference play with six games including a pair in Puerto Rico before resuming conference action in January.
Nov. 24: PLU vs. Warner Pacific at Olson Gymnasium (4 p.m.)
Series History: The Lutes and Knights have met on nine occasions since the series began in 2002-2003 with PLU enjoying a 6-3 advantage in the series. The two squads last met during the 2016-2017 season with Pacific Lutheran netting a 71-47 victory.
About the Knights: Warner Pacific (3-1) headed into the weekend with a perfect record before falling 83-69 to University of Puget Sound on Friday evening. WPU previously collected wins at the expense of Simpson University (84-60), Willamette University (81-78 in OT), and Linfield College (76-72).
Gabriella Bruno paces the Knight scoring attack, averaging 14.3 points per game while Deepika Kapil adds 12.3 ppg and a team-best 10.3 rebounds per game. Katelyn Rossback is the third Knight averaging in double figures, boasting a 12.0 ppg average.
