TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team pulled away in the third quarter on Thursday evening inside Olson Gymnasium, leading wire-to-wire in a 72-46 victory over in-state rival Walla Walla University. 

The homestanding Lutes (3-2) charged out of the gate, scoring the opening six points of the game. The Wolves (1-10)  cut the gap to just a single point twice in the first quarter but PLU finished the opening 10 minutes with a 14-10 advantage. The Lutes' advantage swelled to nine points on a Mackenzie Cooper layup with 3:53 left before halftime and Pacific Lutheran took a 28-23 lead at into the locker room at half.

Walla Walla collected the opening bucket of the second half but Cooper answered with a three on the next possession, kicking off a run of 17-consecutive points for the Lutes. PLU outscored Walla Walla 21-7 in the third while adding even more separation in teh fourth en route to the 26-point victory.

Madison Salisbury notched her third double-double in as many games, scoring a team-high 17 points while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. Katie Taylor came off the bench and scored 12 points while Cooper was the third Lute in double figures with 10 points. Emma Janousek and Hailey Marsh each added eight points with Janousek additionally dishing out a team-high five assists while grabbing three steals.  

PLU dominated the glass with a 51-30 rebounding advantage while owning a 32-18 edge in points in the paint. The Lute bench outscored the Walla Walla bench 26-7 while limiting the Wolves to shooting 29.8 percent (14-for-47) for the game, including a paltry 16.7 percent (two-for-12) in the third quarter.  

The Lutes return to action on Saturday, heading to Kirkland to face Northwest University with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.