TACOMA, Wash. — Ashley Akamine had her first career double-double on Saturday but it wasn't enough for the Pacific Lutheran University women's basketball team to emerge with the win, stumbling 84-76 to Northwest Conference rival Whitworth University inside Olson Gymnasium.
 
Akamine headlined the day with career-bests of 18 points and 10 rebounds, one of four Lutes to finish the afternoon in double figures in a see-saw battle featuring nine lead changes and six ties. 
 
The Lutes (0-6, 0-2 NWC) stormed out of the gate, scoring the opening six points of the game. The visiting Pirates (3-4, 1-1 NWC) tied the game at 8-8 with 4:49 left in the frame but Pacific Lutheran answered by scoring the next 10 straight and enjoyed an 18-10 lead after one quarter of play.  Akamine shouldered the load during the run, scoring six of the Lutes' 10 points. 
 
Whitworth took a 33-32 lead into the halftime intermission in a wild second quarter that featured nine lead changes and six ties. The Pirate lead expanded to eight midway through the third but the sharpshooting Edmonds canned a pair of treys, including one with 4:09 left in the quarter to close the gap to just two points.
 
Whitworth ballooned its lead to 15 early in the fourth but the Lutes mounted another comeback attempt, closing within six on a Akamine layup with 63 seconds left but was unable to come any closer. 
 
Akamine career-best 18 points including making all six of her free throws while finishing six-for-10 from the floor. Ava Edmonds matched her offensive production with 18 points, including hitting a trio of three-pointers, while grabbing nine rebounds. Breeze Bartle scored a career-high 11 points in just 15 minutes of action while Sydney Reisner finished with 10 points. 

"We had so many victories tonight that didn't show up on the scoreboard that we celebrated as a team," said Head Coach Lee Aduddell. 

"Ava was excellent and is just starting to hit her stride. We know as a team we're right there, but have to put together four full quarters."
 
PLU outshot the Pirates, finishing the night shooting 40.3 percent (25-for-62) from the field while limiting the visitors to shooting just 32.4 percent (23-for-71), including just 14.3 percent in the opening quarter. PLU enjoyed a 38-20 edge in points in the paint while hitting 22 of its 25 free throws on the day.
 
The Lutes are back on the hardwood on Tuesday night, trekking down I-5 to face The Evergreen State College. Tipoff in Olympia is slated for 7 p.m.