TACOMA, Wash. - A suffocating defense set the table for a blowout win on Tuesday evening as the Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team opened up its home slate with an emphatic 94-34 victory over Northwest Indian College inside Olson Gymnasium. 
 
Katie Taylor drained a three-pointer just 12 seconds into the game, setting the tone for the Lutes (4-1) who tallied 17 of the opening 19 points against the Eagles (0-4). PLU continued to play suffocating defense the rest of the quarter, enjoying a 33-3 advantage after the dust settled after one quarter of play. 
 
The Lutes held a 57-13 halftime advantage on their way to the blowout victory. 
 
"We really wanted to play calm and collected and we did that," said Taylor. "I think as a team our offense was just flowing really good and that just led to my threes being open."
 
All eleven Lutes in uniform scored a basket while the squad established a new school record with the pesky defense netting 30 steals. Toni Thibert was the main instigator with nine, just two shy of an individual school record, while also adding 18 points and five assists in just 22 minutes of court time. 
 
Katie Taylor matched Thibert's team-high 18 points, hitting four threes in just 18 minutes of action. Jorie Lambert tallied 12 points and six rebounds off the bench while Megan Drake added 10 points and six boards. Emma Janousek dished up nine assists while grabbing eight steals for a Lute defense that forced 47 turnovers on the night.
 
"We knew coming in, no matter the opponent, we're going to play as hard as we could," said Thibert. "For us it was just execution. Every time we went down the court we just wanted to get the best shot possible. This past week defense has been a huge thing we've been working on, so in this game it was just getting good stops on defense which led to steals and points."
 
NWIC's Imani Bighorn finished with a double-double, scoring a game-high 26 points along with a game-high 14 rebounds.
 

@pluwbb is victorious in their first homestand of the season, defeating Northwest Indian College 94-34. @GoffZach35 spoke with Katie Taylor (18 points) and Toni Thibert (18 points, 9 steals) after the statement win! pic.twitter.com/3FL6UBtTxm

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) November 27, 2019

PLU's 94 points was just one shy from tying the school record while the Lutes' margin of victory was just two points away from the program record. 
 
The Lutes take the rest of the week off and return to the hardwood on Dec. 6, hosting Northwest Christian University at 7 p.m.