TACOMA – Northwest played evenly with Pacific Lutheran in the second half, but a rough first quarter was too much to overcome in a 77-60 Eagles setback Saturday.
 
NU shot 28 percent in the first quarter and had a pair of players get into early foul trouble. The first frame ended with PLU up 21-9, and the Lutes led 43-26 at halftime.
 
"That was a tough loss tonight that we can definitely learn from," said NU Head Coach Ken Crawford. "We hit a team that played harder than we did and executed better than we did. The stats show that the game was fairly even, but they jumped on us quickly in the first quarter, which was the story of the game."
 
The second half was an evenly-matched 34-34. 
 
Jackie Bento led the Eagles with 12 points, while Sam Van Loo tacked on 10 points and team highs with eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Kylie Olson also produced off the bench with eight rebounds.
 
Now 2-8 on the season, Northwest returns to Cascade Collegiate Conference action Friday and Saturday with road games at Corban and Northwest Christian.
 
"I'm really excited about our team," said Crawford, "and I'm confident that we will continue to learn from our experiences and get better and better. Next week, we travel down to Northwest Christian and Corban universities for two more league games. I think we'll be ready!"