Not a very good night for the Lutes. Just a little out of sink and gave up way to many in the paint in the second half. Not the finish we were hoping for but what a great year. All goals accomplished with the exception of the last which was to get to the final four. Congratulations to Kelly Turner and Mallory Mann on great careers. These two have helped to rewrite the record books for PLU. The Lutes have a great group coming back but will sure miss you two.

Swiss - I don't think that as a fan I will be subject to much of challenge in the stands. Just thought that the sight of a old man with pink hair might entice scott to travel north. But thanks for your words of encouragement and advice. I am sure that we are taking the next round lightly (Not!) but thanks for letting us know that the Randolph Macon is not to be overlooked.

On a serious note do you actually think that PLU will not be focused for this weekends game or games? As always we will worry about Stout or Macon after we deal with HSU. I am very aware of the point guard for RM and her stats. I also know they are going to be the biggest team in the gym. What makes you so sure they will get by Stout who is playing great ball as well?

Parkland - That kid from UPS was alot of fun to watch and the Senior fans loved him leading  the Cheers. Right up until the police escorted him out. I could not believe that none of the parents stood up for the young man. I almost did and I am a PLU fan. I was not happy that they felt the need to go to such extremes when he was not harming anyone with what he was doing.  I guess the powers to be don't watch many of the Duke or Gonzaga games and see how real fans act.  To me thats part of what makes basketball so much fun to watch. Why take the student body out of the game by constantly sitting on them. Most of the comments are in fun and cause no harm  so lighten up a little. By the way its been great to see the Mens basketball team taking a very active role in bringing our PLU fans together. They seem to be having a great time and it really means alot to the girls.

Challenge of the week, Coach Rueck if you will bring your girls dressed in GFU attire to Fridays game and let them sit with our boys basketball team and cheer on the Lutes I will die my hair pink for Saturdays game. 1. rules, you must have at least 7 players with you and you personally have to wear a PLU shirt and lead the fans in a cheer at the start of the game. 

Kibitzer, I am sure Mann appreciates your best wishes. There is absolutely no way she will be back at full strength by this weekend or next. Its going to be a play by play situation for her for the rest of her career(hopefully four more games). The Lutes are playing well even with her limited ability and as they get used to ever changing rolls I think they will get even better. We got some great minutes from Senior Anna Sticklin last night in a big win agianst a tough UPS squad. Turner also did a nice job of swithching from her role as a scorer to one who keeps the team moving.

Getting the opportuinity to host is huge for PLU and helps them get one step closer to the last goal on their preseason list. I hope all of you who have the chance will come and support your NWC representative. Now is the time to support the Lutes and hope they can carry the NWC banner deep into the tournament. The fans have been great over the last few games for PLU but we could always use more. So how about enjoying a nice ride up Tacoma on Friday night and help the Lutes take on Hardin Simmons?

I love the way Pat Coleman thinks in his Bracket Breakdown on the front page today. But for now the focus is Chapman for the Lutes.

Chapman is ranked nationally in four categories and the Lutes are ranked in 9 of the ten categories. The Lutes also have four individuals that are ranked and Chapman has one.However,stats seem to go out the window this time of year when you are in the one and done part of the season. I look for a much more mature team in Chapman than they were in the first game. I believe they only play one senior so you know that their young players are going to be  much better now. Plu has one goal left on their preseason list and they start working towards that on Friday agianst Chapman.

Congratulations to PLU on a huge win last night. The lutes put on a couple of nice runs that UPS could not answer. The lutes defence  proved to be their best weapon holding the highest scoring team in the league to under 60 points and less than 30% shooting. Its been a great season for both teams and now lets hope that the NCAA splits them up so that both teams can have a chance to represent the conference well. It would be a shame to let the almighty dollar force these teams to face off for the fourth time this year. My hope would be that PLU would host the first round and ship UPS off to the south for the first round games.

Rimshot- Are you implying UPS is not going to be ready for this game? UPS has beaten the Lutes 3 out of the last four times they have played. Two of those games were on the Lutes home court. How can they be worn out they have been playing back to back games all year at least they have had one extra day of rest. By the way Plu was only picked  to finish third. these teams are really close in stats.  This game should be a barn burner. Hopefully PLU has figured a way to stop the young post player who seems to be playing very well right now. Seriously you have to be kidding with all that poor mouthing! I would love to see GFU get an at large bid but they are so far down in the regional rankings and the other criteria used in determining pool c.

I am going to agree with Kibitzer here when he says stats don't mean everything. One question why leave Leith out?

Parkland you have watched the League for years so what are your thoughts on multiple bids with the enlarged field?

Pat , The power is out all over Tacoma so the game had to be moved to a community college site at the last minute. So much for the home court advantage. Plu came out hot and led 41 -18 at the half. I am not sure of the final but PLU won by about 13 I think.

What a conference and what a weekend.

PLU will be fine  no matter who  their point guard is. The game agianst Linnfield gave the two young point guards a chance to get their confidence up. Turner has started for four years and was a big part of the upset victory of Whitworth her freshmen year as was Anna S. who I believe scored 18 while playing less than half of the game. Nicky is a veteran player even though she is new to PLu. Z and Trish also are veterans who have been to war on the east side several times.  Then there are a whole list of young players who have had their moments this year. I don't think the Lutes are thinking about blowing up or making the nationals. They are trying to win or share in the regular season championship so they are still focusing one game at a time. Was it luck that PLU came back on Fox from 16 down at Fox? Was it luck that they beat UPS at UPS? I personally like their chances on the eastside this year. Its been a struggle for the past 3 years and the team has won some big games east and lost some big games there also. I think this team is mentally strong and will be ready come Friday night. Maybe if the Lutes pull this out some of you might show some respect (and you know who you are). Having a 17-3 record beating Fox on their court and UPS on their court sure has not  earned them much respect on here.  

Rimshot, Your right about not being excited  about going east but nobody ever is. I wish we would get two teams in but as I see it the only way that might happen is if PLU and UPS win out and they decide to take the loser of the conference tournament. Everyone else just has way to many losses. Great conference and man what a finish its going to be. There are six teams with a shot at the nationals with four games left. Good luck to all!