Dec. 4, 2006

Lutes Start Conference Play in Convincing Fashion

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Evergreen State, Friday, 7 p.m.; Pacific Lutheran hosts Corban, Saturday, 7 p.m.

LAST WEEK: The Lutes started their conference title defense in convincing fashion last weekend at PLU's Olson Auditorium. The Lutes beat Linfield (61-39) and Willamette (57-30) by an average margin of 24.5 points. In a weekend where the Lutes were never truly challenged, the team was able to showcase its depth and newcomers. Freshman Danika Lawson was impressive throughout the weekend; in the first game she scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added four assists and three steals. In the Willamette game she scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. In all, 15 different Lutes saw playing time during the weekend, with 11 of them scoring. Nikki Johnson paced the Lutes in both games, scoring a total of 28 points and 9-of-17 shooting. The Lutes are now 2-0 in conference and 4-2 overall.

NON-CONFERENCE GAMES SET FOR THIS WEEKEND: This weekend the Lutes will face off against a pair of NAIA Division II schools from the Cascade Collegiate Conference. On Friday, the Lutes host Evergreen State, and on Saturday they battle Corban College at Olson Auditorium. It will be their third and fourth consecutive home games.

THE OPPONENTS: Evergreen State (2-5) will be looking to improve on some tough early season losses. The Geoducks have had problems with their offense throughout the course of the season as they average only 48.4 points per game while giving up 61.4 points per contest. They hope to have some of those problems solved by Friday, or it could be a long night for the Geoducks. Forward Jennifer Solberg leads the Geoducks in both scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). For Corban College, senior Jessi Norton is coming off a season-high 26 points in a road loss to Oregon Tech. The Warriors, picked to win the Cascade Collegiate Conference title, head into this weekend’s play at 5-4 for the season. The Warriors are led by seniors Kendall Dione, Brianne Carras and Norton.

DOUBLE DIGITS: Senior forward Nikki Johnson has scored in double figures and led the Lutes in scoring in all six of their games this season. She has a single-game high of 22 points against Oglethorpe and, with a 16.5 average, is the only PLU player averaging in double figures in scoring. She is also second in rebounds with 9.0 per game, with senior post Kezia Long pacing the Lutes with 9.3 per contest.

ADJUST THE COORDINATES: Pacific Lutheran has generally shot the three-pointer well in recent years, but this year has been an exception as the Lutes have made just 11-of-57, or 19 percent, from beyond the arc. Look for the Lutes to improve in that statistic as the season progresses.

NEXT GAMES: The Lutes will have a pair of non-conference home games versus Northwest (Dec. 16) and Concordia (Dec. 27). The first game will be played at 6 p.m. at Olson Auditorium. On the 27th, the Lutes will head to Concordia (Ore.) for a 5 p.m. game. During the Christmas break, the Lutes will host the PLU Classic on Dec. 29-30. Teams coming for the event are Thompson Rivers (formerly College of the Caribous in Canada), Wisconsin-Oshkosh and George Fox.

- PLU -