Lutes Hit the Road for NWC Women's Hoops Action

COMING UP: Pacific Lutheran at Linfield, Saturday, Jan. 2, 4 p.m.; PLU at Pacific, Sunday, Jan. 3, 4 p.m.; PLU at Puget Sound, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 6 p.m.

CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS: Pacific Lutheran hopes to carry the momentum from a Dec. 30 home court win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire into the opening weekend of Northwest Conference women's basketball play. The Lutes play at Linfield on Saturday and at Pacific on Sunday. Both of those games get underway at 4 p.m. Next Wednesday, PLU heads across town to take on Puget Sound with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.

LISTEN TO THE LUTES: You can listen to most PLU women's basketball games on KLAY 1180 AM in the Tacoma area and also at www.klay1180.com. Long-time announcer Bob Robertson returns to call the action for the Lutes. Please note, however, that the weekend games against Linfield and Pacific will not be broadcast on KLAY. The game at UPS will, however, be broadcast on KLAY. The PLU athletic department offers an alternative through Stretch Internet (http://www.golutes.com/information/listenlive). Nick Caraballo will call the action of one of the two games, though which game is still to be decided.

LUTES END LOSS SKID: Pacific Lutheran ended a seven-game losing streak with a 50-43 home court win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday night. Tracy Goehri, a senior post from Spokane, led the Lutes with 13 points and seven rebounds. She connected on 6-of-7 shots from the field and grabbed all seven of her rebounds on the defensive end as the Lutes improved their season record to 2-7. Sara Backstrom scored 11 points and dished out four assists and Jordan Westering added 10 points for the Lutes. Hannah Mesick recorded a double-double for the 3-10 Blugolds with 18 points and 13 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive end. Pacific Lutheran never trailed in the game after Goehri opened the scoring with back-to-back baskets. Backstrom and Westering hit consecutive three-point shots to help the Lutes take a 12-2 lead with 14:22 left in the first half. The Blugolds responded with an 8-0 run, including a pair of layups by Mesick, to cut their deficit to 14-12 with 9:44 left in the half. That was as close as the visitors would get, however, as the Lutes scored six unanswered points on the way to taking a 25-16 lead at the intermission. PLU led by as much as 15 points, 38-23, when Westering found Mandy Wall with a back-door pass leading to a layup. The Blugolds made a game of it late, however, pulling to within six points, 44-38, with 2:36 remaining. Mesick scored a layup with 14 seconds remaining to make it 48-43, but the Lutes broke full court pressure and iced the game on Ayla Mull's layup with five seconds left.

PRE-CONFERENCE SUMMARY: The youthful Lutes put bookends on their pre-conference season, opening with a win over Corban and closing with a victory over Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Between those wins, the Lutes dropped seven straight games. The schedule was difficult, however, including Division I Seattle U., Division II Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's, and NAIA playoff veteran Concordia (Ore.). Shelly Kilcup leads the Lutes with an average of 13.6 points per game and Sara Backstrom chips in with 10.0 per contest. Jordan Westering shoots 37 percent from three-point range and averages 9.7 points a game. Tracy Goehri is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.1 per game. PLU needs to improve in two major areas - they've turned the ball over an average of 24.4 times per game and are shooting just 36 percent from the field.

NWC PRESEASON POLL: The conference coaches' preseason poll shows Pacific finishing fourth, PLU placing seventh and Linfield ninth.

ABOUT LINFIELD: The Wildcats come into the conference season with a 2-7 overall record and they have lost five straight games. In addition, they have lost all four of their home games this season. Gretchen Owens, a 5-10 swing player, averages 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and she leads her team with a total of 22 assists this season. Nadra Evans, a 5-9 swing player, scores 12.0 points per game, while 6-1 forward Lindsey Gummersall chips in with 11.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The Lutes, who lead the all-time series 43-16, have defeated Linfield 28 straight times dating back to the 1995-96 season.

ABOUT PACIFIC: The Boxers have a 3-4 record and are coming off of two straight losses. Rochel Reeves-Howe, a 5-7 senior guard, leads the team with an average of 15.6 points per game, followed by 5-11 sophomore forward Julianne Erbe with 14.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Paige Jensen, a 5-11 freshman forward, leads the team with 7.7 rebounds per game and 5-10 sophomore forward Eric Schultz chips in with 10.5 points per game. The roster includes players from six different states. The Boxers have had their troubles with the Lutes over the last four years, losing seven of eight. The one win in that string, however, was a 60-57 home victory that essentially put the Boxers into the NWC postseason tournament while keeping the Lutes out.

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