TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team kept pace with ninth-ranked Whitman College for nearly three quarters of play before running out of gas on Friday evening, ending on the wrong side of a 63-51 decision inside Olson Gymnasium.
The Lutes (8-10, 3-6 Northwest Conference) and Blues (16-2, 8-1 NWC) traded blows in an opening half that featured 10 lead changes and five ties.
"Whitman is a great team," said Head Coach
Jennifer Childress. "We needed to clone our first quarter effort and defense for the whole game, but unfortunately let their third quarter run get the best of us. It's a tough ask to play the ninth-best team in the nation on a night we're not firing on all cylinders."
Consecutive layups from
Emma Janousek gave the homestanding Lutes an 11-8 advantage after four minutes of action in the opening quarter. It would remain a one possession ballgame the rest of the period with Whitman holding a slim 16-15 edge after 10 minutes of play.
Pacific Lutheran built its biggest lead of the night midway through the second quarter with a
Jorie Lambert three giving the Lutes a 25-21 advantage with 5:30 remaining in the half. Whitman battled back, utilizing a 12-1 run spanning both halves to build a double-digit advantage with 7:28 left in the third.
Back-to-back threes from
Megan Drake and Lambert along with a pair of free throws from Janousek brought the Lutes back within two but a 14-1 Whitman run would reestablish a double-digit lead for the nationally-ranked visitors who enjoyed a double-digit buffer the rest of the way.
Janousek led the Lutes with 12 points, five steals, and three assists while
Megan Drake added 10 points and five rebounds.
Katie Taylor netted nine points while
Kylie Rademacher hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
PLU forced 16 Whitman turnovers and held a 21-13 edge in points off turnovers but was outmuscled 34-20 in points in the paint and trailed the Blues 17-4 in second chance scoring. PLU shot just 27.3 percent (15-for-55) from the field for the game while Whitman hit 42.6 percent (26-for-61) of its chances.
The Lutes close out their homestand tomorrow afternoon, hosting in-state Whitworth University at 4 p.m.
