Women's Basketball | 11/14/2013 4:38:00 PM

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team welcomes Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.) for its next game Saturday. It is the third of seven consecutive games at home to open the season.

The Wolves (0-2) had a pair of setbacks to open the regular season in last week's WOU/Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout. Holli Howard-Carpenter's first game as head coach of WOU was a memorable one. Notre Dame de Namur held off a late rally by Western Oregon, and watched as a Wolves' shot at the buzzer fell short, pulling away with a 64-63 win.

In a game that featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes, Notre Dame de Namur shot 43.8 percent from the field, while Western Oregon finished 34.4 percent. The Wolves' Dana Goularte led all scorers with 24 points. The junior completed a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. She made seven of her 16 attempts from the field, and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.

The following night, Academy of Art pulled away from Western Oregon for a 64-50 victory. The Urban Knights forced 21 WOU turnovers and scored 23 points off of those turnovers. Academy of Art also held the Wolves to 28 percent shooting from the field. The game was tied at 44 midway through the second half, when Academy of Art broke the contest open. The Knights scored 17 of the next 19 points over a seven-minute span to pull away. The Wolves made only one of their seven shots during the stretch. Chantel Divilbiss led the Wolves with 17 points. She was 7-for-17 from the field.

Pacific Lutheran will be playing its second game of the season Saturday. The Lutes open Friday against Evergreen State. PLU has a new coach and nine newcomers on its 2013-14 roster. Head coach Jennifer Childress joined the PLU staff in April from Western Washington, and begins her first year at the helm of a program that is looking to step forward after three consecutive seventh-place Northwest Conference finishes. The Lutes were picked to finish eighth in the NWC preseason coaches' poll.

The Lutes return seven players from the 2012-13 team, including five players with extensive starting experience from last year. Samantha Potter leads the returners, coming back for her senior season after earning second-team all-conference honors last year. The 5-10 post started all 23 games and led the Lutes in scoring (13.4 points per game), rebounding (9.0) and shooting percentage (.430) last year, and Childress sees Potter as a great leader for this year's team.

Potter is joined by a pair of 6-0 seniors in Chrissy Swope and Katelyn Smith. Swope averaged 3.6 points and 14.8 rebounds while starting 14 games for the Lutes last year, and Childress praises her ability to play both inside and outside. Smith also started 14 contests, averaging just under 20 minutes of court time while scoring 5.2 points and grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game.

A big returning addition will be Shelly Kilcup for the Lutes, who comes back to the team after missing last season. While playing for the Lutes in 2011-12, Kilcup started all 25 games and averaged 11.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while tying for the team lead with 31.5 minutes of court time per contest. Kara Sherman is another junior who comes in with valuable starting experience. A 5-6 guard, Sherman started 19 games last season and ranked second on the team in minutes (31.2), while scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 3.8 rebounds. Her 40 steals led the team.

Guard Megan Abdo comes into her sophomore season already a seasoned veteran after averaging a team-high 32.4 minutes during a freshman campaign that saw her score 7.8 points and grab 5.3 rebounds per game. Her 55 assists last season and 19 made three-pointers lead PLU returners.

The Wolves have won all seven of the all-time meetings. The series dates back to a 39-37 Western Oregon win in 1982. After a 15-year hiatus, the series resumed last year as the Wolves grabbed a 74-62 home win. WOU built an 18-point lead in the first half and held on for the victory. Goularte had a game-high five steals, while Melissa Fowler grabbed nine rebounds and dished out nine assists.

Saturday's game will have live video and stats on WOUWolves.com. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Season tickets holders are encouraged to visit the new Wolves' Den area at halftime. Holders will have the chance to mingle with other fans and WOU baseball and softball coaches this week. If you're not a season ticket holder yet and would like to take advantage of this great deal, visit HERE