Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University men's and women's basketball teams continue Northwest Conference play on Friday, trekking to Salem, Oregon for the first road trip of the conference slate. PLU's other winter sports of men's and women's swimming and indoor track & field have the weekend off but will both be in action next week.
 
FRIDAY:
WBB at Willamette in Salem, Ore. (5:30 p.m.)
MBB at Willamette in Salem, Ore. (7:30 p.m.)

Get with the Flo: This summer the Northwest Conference signed an exclusive five-year deal with FloSports to be the live streaming platform of the Lutes and the rest of the conference.
 
Make sure to sign up for FloSports today so you don't miss any of the action at home or on the road. Sign up today: LINK
 
Women's Basketball: Three games into the conference slate and the Lutes have played three nailbiters. The Lutes (1-11, 0-3 NWC) led after one quarter of play and trailed by just a single possession in the fourth in a 66-55 setback to George Fox University on Friday in the league opener. Sydney Reisner led the way with a season-high 20 points.

The following night, Emi Wada hit a jumper with a second to spare, sending the game into overtime against Lewis & Clark College. Unfortunately for the Lutes, the River Otters hit 12 free throws in overtime and 26 across the entire game to escape Olson Gym with a 72-62 win. Reisner again led the Lute scoring efforts with 20 points while Lilli Williams added eight with a team-best 10 rebounds.

The Lutes trailed by just one point to NWC leading University of Puget Sound on Tuesday with under a minute to go but the Loggers hit their free throws down the stretch to nab the 69-65 win. Williams had a career day, dropping 24 points while Reisner added 19. 

Men's Basketball: Pacific Lutheran (7-5, 1-2 NWC) opened league play last Friday, surviving a late comeback to earn the 75-73 victory. Charlie Kapranos headlined the win, scoring 23 points and making all six of his free throws.

PLU's fortunes were reversed on Saturday, falling 73-59 to Lewis & Clark. On Tuesday, the Lutes trailed by as many as 25 against crosstown rival Puget Sound but would pull within three on a Henry Smith three with less than 10 seconds left. Ultimately, the Lutes ran out of time on the comeback, falling 66-61.

Kapranos again led the Lutes with 19 points in a game PLU shot 60 percent (15-for-25) in the second half. 

Milestone Watch: Head Coach Chad Murray sits one win away from 100 for his career at Pacific Lutheran. Murray has 170 total wins at the Division III level, including 71 in eight seasons at Cornell College and 99 in nine seasons with PLU. 

Men's Swimming: The Lutes (4-0) will have to wait another week to get back into the pool after cancelling their meet this Friday and Saturday.
 
Undefeated in dual meets this year, the Lutes last competed back on Nov. 23 at the Bruin Invitational. PLU placed runner-up at the meet back in November, headlined by Vyron Domingo winning the 200-yard backstroke in a school record time of one minute, 52.37 seconds.

The Lutes will host Pacific University next Friday evening in what is the penultimate home meet of the year for the program. 
 
Women's Swimming: Pacific Lutheran returns from its winter training trip in Hawaii and will get back in the pool next Friday against Pacific.

The Lutes have been dialed in this winter, having picked up dual meet wins over George Fox (142-99), Lewis & Clark (162-98), Willamette University (128-112), and Linfield University (114-90). 
 
PLU's last regular season meet was back on Nov. 23, placing second at the Bruin Invitational. Harper Canessa paced the Lutes at the meet, winning two individual events and participating on a winning relay. Canessa won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.48) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.52) and was on the winning 400-yard medley relay team (4:01.89).  
 
Track & Field: The Lutes opened the lid on the 2025-2026 season back on Dec. 13, sending a small contingent of athletes to the Spokane Invitational. 

Ki Neir was runner-up in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, 10 inches with teammate Madison Downey third after clearing the same height. Kyleigh Archer was seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 36' 9 ¾". 
 
Bridger Hanis cleared 6' 2 ¾" in the high jump, finishing sixth overall for the men's team.

Football: The honors continued to roll in for the Lutes (6-4, 5-2 NWC). Jacob Schuh was tabbed Fourth Team All-American at running back by D3football.com while Schuh and Avery Coleman, Sir Hart, and Will Frank were all honored by earning Academic All-District from College Sports Communicators.

Hot Stove Lutes: The spring sports seasons are quickly approaching. The baseball team begins practice next week and will play their first games in California on Feb. 13 while women's lacrosse begins its second ever season at home on Feb. 20, hosting Southwestern University (Texas). Women's golf tees off the spring on Feb. 9 at the West Coast Invitational while the wait is a little longer for the rest of the spring sports that won't get underway until March. 

2025 Rewind: In case you missed it, 2025 was a great year for the PLU Athletic Department. Make sure to check out the top moments of the last year: LINK

Walk With Us: Check out this week's episode of Walk With Us as host Miles Nash chats with Athletic Director Mike Snyder. 
Lute Attaways: Congrats to longtime Lute staff member Robert Thompson who was elevated to Associate Athletic Director. Thompson has been with the University since 2013 and has run the department's intramural, club sports, group exercise, and outdoor recreation programs. Learn more: LINK

Download the GoLutes App: Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gamely details and more, the PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

Link to download on Google Play: LINK

Link to download on Apple App Store: LINK