TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran women's basketball knew this season would be one of growth and while Tuesday's result wasn't what they were hoping for, there were still positives to take away.

The Lutes fell 53-42 to Whittier College in their home opener at Olson Gymnasium.

"We see growth from last game to this game, from Game 1 to Game 4," PLU coach Lee Aduddell said. "It is really easy to get caught up in what the results say and obviously we haven't had the success we are hoping for yet, but we see growth.

"Our motto this year is relentless and we had moments tonight that we showed that relentless effort."

The Lutes (0-4 overall) showed that effort late in the first half.

Trailing 26-13 with 1 minute, 31 seconds to go in the second quarter, the Lutes rattled off seven straight points heading into the break.

Taylor Schmidtke made two free throws and a 3-pointer and Ashley Akamine had a putback as time expired to make it 26-20 at the break.
 

Lute Sports Network's Jonathan Cohen talks to @pluwbb guard Taylor Schmidtke, who scored 16 points and had eight rebounds Tuesday, about where the team is at and looking forward to conference play next week. pic.twitter.com/N9xH12r49C

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) November 23, 2022

The Lutes made the run 9-0 on a layup by Sydney Reisner early in the third quarter. After a layup by Whittier, Schmidtke hit one of her four 3-pointers to pull the Lutes within 28-25. Schmidtke later hit a layup to pull PLU within 30-27, but that was as close as they'd get the rest of the game.

Schmidtke finished with a team-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Ava Edmonds added nine points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Akamine added eight points and four rebounds, while Reisner had four assists.

"We did some things well offensively, but we aren't shooting the ball very well," Aduddell said. "When you shoot well it cures a lot of things and that is something we have to keep working on.

"We are continuing to grow and that is what we are identifying as a key to success this year."

On defense, the Lutes forced 12 turnovers, held the Poets (1-3) to just 24-percent shooting from beyond the arc (6-of-25) and outrebounded Whitter 28-26.

"I was pleased with the overall defensive effort," Aduddell said. "When you hold a team to 53 points you should be able to compete to win that game."

Lainie James scored a game-high 22 points, while guard Rhe Nae Leach had 15 points and seven assists to lead the Poets.

PLU is back in action at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, against Whitman in the Northwest Conference opener for both teams.