Steven McGrain, Staff Writer
The Lady Lutes basketball team concludes its 2014-2015 season by dropping the ball in its last two home games against Whitworth and Whitman.
There wasn’t a lack of effort by the women, but instead the loss came due to a lack of offensive production in two of the four halves.
In the first half against No. 20 ranked Whitworth, the Lutes only managed to score 12 points compared to the Pirates 38.
In the second half, the Lutes managed to outscore the nationally ranked team, 40-37, but the deficit from the previous 20 minutes was too much to overcome.
The most glaring statistic from the contest was the turnover margin, 19-10. When playing against a Top 25 team, the ball control needed to be in the Lutes favor and it was not.
Top performers for PLU were first-year Bailey Raines, who recorded 12 points off the bench and junior Jori Hall, racking up 9 points. The final score was 75-52, Whitworth.
On Saturday, the women played against the Whitman Missionaries, but the end result was the same as the previous night.
The score after the first half was close with the Lutes only down by nine, 37-28, but the shots did not fall in the second half.
In the second half, PLU was outscored 41-19 by the Missionaries.
Looking at the game as a whole, it came down to a slow rotation by Lute defenders, which in turn gave Whitman more chances to score throughout the game, especially in the paint.
The defense was just slow. It was almost as though they were trying to focus on offense and as long as they outscored Whitman, they could win the game.
It could have been six players getting tired and playing more than 20 minutes in back to back nights. The final score was 78-47.
On a positive note, there are no seniors on the 2014-2015 basketball team, which means everyone will be back next year.
This team can gain more chemistry in the off season, a trait that was lacking over the weekend.
For example, knowing where a teammates spot is on the court and making the extra pass, which paid dividends during games but wasn’t there often enough.
The first-years can be implemented more and feel more comfortable in this style of offense.
Look for big things to come next winter from the Lady Lutes basketball team.
