TACOMA, Washington – The fight for the Northwest Conference regular-season crown continues when the No. 16/13 Puget Sound women's basketball team heads to Parkland for a Valentine's date at Pacific Lutheran Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m.
 
Conference landscape
Puget Sound and Whitman are tied for first place in the NWC – both teams are 12-2 in conference action. With two conference games remaining for all teams, Pacific is still not mathematically eliminated from a share of the regular-season title. The Boxers are 10-4 in the NWC. Willamette is in the driver's seat for the No. 4 and final seed of the NWC Tournament – the Bearcats are 8-6, while Linfield, George Fox, and Whitworth are all 6-8.
 
Grand theft
Katie Minnehan's 87 steals on the season rank No. 7 in all of NCAA D-III. She averages 3.8 steals per game, and is the only NWC player averaging more than 2.6 steals.
 
Take what's free
Kennedy Brown (90.2-percent) and Samantha Swartout (86.2-percent) are the top two free-throw shooters in the NWC. Katie Minnehan is shooting 86.4-percent from the line, but she is a few attempt short of qualifying for the official conference list.
 
The best hit a slump
The Loggers are the conference's top 3-point shooting team, connecting on 32.2-percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. However, Puget Sound has shot under 30.0-percent from distance in each of the last four games.
 
Dominating the Lutes
Puget Sound has won six consecutive games against PLU. Earlier this season the Loggers toppled the Lutes, 68-38, in Tacoma (Jan. 17). Paige Gerhart led the Loggers in scoring with 16 points, and Jordyn Reverman added 13 points.
 
Scouting Pacific Lutheran (2-21, 2-12 NWC)
The Lutes have lost seven of their last eight games. The lone win during that stretch was at Lewis & Clark, 63-50 (Feb. 10). PLU is last in the NWC in scoring (49.5) and rebounding (34.1). Ashley Akamine averages 10.4 points per game, Ava Edmonds averages 10.3, and Sydney Reisner is in double-digits with a 10.1 scoring average.