TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team played the department's first home contest in over 319 days on Friday evening, opening the 2021 season on the wrong side of a 77-61 scoreline against Northwest Conference rival Whitman College. 

The homestanding Lutes (0-1, 0-1 NWC) scored the game's opening points with Emma Janousek converting a three the old fashioned way, draining a layup and hitting a free throw for the early lead. Pacific Lutheran's advantage swelled to seven points on an Eva Edmonds three with 4:09 left in the opening quarter but the Blues (1-0, 1-0 NWC) battled back, trimming the Lute lead to just a single point, 15-14 after one quarter of action. 

The Lutes and Blues were tied 26-26 with under three minutes left in the opening half but Whitman mounted a 17-0 run stretching on both sides of halftime to blow open a 20-point lead. PLU refused to back down, whittling the gap to single digits with 1:59 remaining on a Madison Salisbury three point play but was unable to come any closer as Whitman held on for the 77-61 victory.

It was a balanced scoring attack for the Lutes with four players registering double figures. Emma Janousek highlighted the Lute stat sheet, dropping 16 points while adding four boards, three assists, and three steals. Ava Edmonds tallied 12 while Megan Drake and Madison Salisbury added 10 apiece. Salisbury had a team-high eight boards while Toni Thibert snagged seven rebounds while dishing out four assists. 

The Lutes and Blues close out the series tomorrow afternoon, returning to Olson Gymnasium for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff.