Women's Basketball Happy to Play at Home

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Saint Martin's University, Friday, 6 p.m.

GEE, IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK HOME: After opening the season with a 69-61 home victory against Corban College, the Pacific Lutheran women's basketball team has dropped six straight games on the road. The Lutes play their next two games in Olson, including a 6 p.m. Friday contest against Saint Martin's University. PLU closes out its pre-conference schedule at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30, when it hosts Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

IT IS WHAT THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE: Pacific Lutheran head coach Kelly Robinson said prior to the start of the 2009-10 season that her team's pre-conference schedule, which included games against NCAA Division I Seattle U. and NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's, would be difficult at best for her young and largely untested team. Afterall, the Lutes returned only five players from the 2008-09 team that finished with a 14-11 record, and those five had started a total of only 14 games last year. So the plan now, as it has been throughout the early part of the season, is to learn lessons from those games and use those lessons as a springboard to a successful Northwest Conference campaign.

ABOUT SAINT MARTIN'S: The Saints will give the Lutes another chance to grow and compete as a team. Saint Martin's comes into Friday's contest with a 5-3 record, including a 70-60 defeat to Puget Sound on Wednesday night. Forward Dara Zack averages a double-double for the Saints with 15.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Forward Krissy Bassett contributes 13.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, while point guard Jamey Gelhar adds 11.3 points per game. The Lutes played the Saints last year, losing by a 77-57 score in Lacey. Sara Backstrom scored 13 points to lead PLU in that game.

LUTES FALL TO EVERGREEN STATE: A second half comeback came up three points short on Tuesday night as Pacific Lutheran dropped a 48-45 non-conference decision to The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The Lutes shot just 31 percent (8-for-26) in the first half in falling behind, 28-18. They warmed up in the second half, finishing the game at 36 percent (19-for-53), but couldn't fully overcome the 10-point deficit. PLU was 4-for-8 from three-point range in the second half as part of the rally. Sara Backstrom led the Lutes with 11 points and five assists, while Meghan Dowling returned to her hometown and finished with seven rebounds for PLU.

LUTE NOTES: Frosh guard Shelly Kilcup continues to lead the Lutes in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game. She has a pair of 23-point performances to her credit this season. Sophomore Sara Backstrom chips in with 9.6 points per contest, while senior post Tracy Goehri leads the team with an average of 6.3 rebounds per game. PLU has struggled shooting the ball this season as evidenced by 35 percent accuracy from the field, including 31 percent from three-point range. The Lutes also have been out-rebounded by their opponents by an average of 2.6 boards per contest.

- PLU -