Setting the Scene: Hoops season continues this weekend with four total games, including three at home while the Pacific Lutheran University track & field teams open up the indoor slate, sending a small contingent of athletes to eastern Washington.

FRIDAY:
MBB hosts Warner Pacific inside Olson Gymnasium (7 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
T&F at Spokane Invitational in Spokane, Wash. 
WBB at Northwest in Kirkland, Wash. (2 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
WBB hosts Evergreen State inside Olson Gymnasium (2 p.m.)
MONDAY:
MBB hosts Douglas inside Olson Gymnasium (6 p.m.)

Men's Basketball: The red-hot Lutes (4-2) have won four straight and host a pair of non-NCAA teams this weekend inside Olson Gymnasium. 

Last week, the Lutes escaped Olympia with a 77-73 victory over host The Evergreen State College. It was a gritty instate showdown that saw PLU lead by as many as 12 and trail by as many as seven.
 
Caleb Berry hit four consecutive free throws down the stretch to put the Lutes in the lead while Dom Perasso led the team with 21 points and on Monday was tabbed the Northwest Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.
 
Milestone Watch: Head Coach Chad Murray is closing in on his milestone 100th win as the Lutes' top man. Murray currently sits with 96 career wins at PLU while boasting 167 overall in his collegiate coaching career, accumulating 71 over eight seasons at Cornell College in Iowa. 
 
Women's Basketball: It's been an extended break for the Lutes (0-5) who last played a game the week prior to Thanksgiving. 

That game against Warner Pacific University saw the Lutes hold a lead on the road early in the fourth quarter but the host Knights mounted a 14-1 run to surge ahead and collect the 78-65 victory.

Four Lutes finished in double figures, including a baker's dozen from Sydney Reisner, Kate Wooten, and Ava Bright. 

Men's Swimming: The Lutes closed out the fall semester back on Nov. 23, putting on a strong showing at the Bruin Invitational in Newberg, Oregon.

Vyron Domingo stole the show, setting the school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a winning time of one minute, 52.37 seconds. The time was 0.19 seconds better than the record held by Cody Hartman since the 2015 campaign. Domingo additionally placed second in the 100-yard backstroke and as a member of two relay teams and was tabbed the NWC Swimmer of the Week for the efforts.
 
Women's Swimming: Pacific Lutheran made the most of the final meet of the fall back on Nov. 23, winning four events at the Bruin Invitational. The Lutes will head to Hawaii for a training trip after a Christmas break and will resume dual meets on Jan. 9 against both University of Puget Sound and Southwestern Oregon Community College.

Harper Canessa accounted for three of those wins, topping the podium in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.48), 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.52), and as a member of the 400-yard medley relay team. Riley Maher was part of the winning relay team while also claiming the title in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:48.78. 
 
Track & Field: The Lutes open the 2025-2026 season this weekend, sending six men and four women to The Podium in Spokane for the Spokane Invitational.

It's the first of four indoor meets for the Lutes before opening the outdoor season on March 6 at the University of Puget Sound's Ed Boitano Invitational.

Notable competitors for the Lutes on Saturday include Kyleigh Archer who is the reigning NWC Champion in the triple jump, Madison Downey who was second in the same event and is the 2024 NWC Champion in the triple jump, and Ki Nier who placed third in the pole vault last spring.

On the men's side, Seth Kramer will be competing in the long jump after placing runner-up at the NWC meet last spring while Bridger Hanis will be jumping after finishing third at the NWC Championships in the high jump. 
 
Awards Season: Awards have rolled in for several Lutes from fall sports with seven soccer players securing All-Region and two football players earning All-Region.

The men's soccer team had Connor O'Brien, Landon Sexton, and Yuta Shimazu securing United Soccer Coaches (USC) Third Team All-Region X while on the women's side Katelyn McDougal and Liv Olson earned Second Team honors while Abby Winkler and Nahe Bukoski secured Third Team status. 

On the gridiron, NWC Offensive Player of the Year Jacob Schuh was  named First Team All-Region 6 by D3football.com while Cole Becker was a Second Team honoree.