Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – Despite one of its coldest shooting nights of the season, visiting Whitworth came away with a 52-35 win at Lewis & Clark College in a Northwest Conference women's basketball contest on Saturday evening.
The 15th-ranked Pirates won despite shooting only 31% (15-48) from the field, 29% (5-17) from three-point range. The win was Whitworth's 11th in a row to start the season and they swept their conference-opening weekend in Oregon.
"Sometimes you just have to find a way," said head coach Helen Higgs. "Three games in five days made it a little hard to figure out what each team is going to throw at you."
Katara Belton-Sharp scored 16 points and KC McConnell had 15 for the Pirates. Ayisat Afolabi scored 18 points for Lewis & Clark (3-8 overall, 0-2 NWC) to account for more than half of the Pioneers' points.
Whitworth never trailed in the game as Belton-Sharp's three-pointer sparked a 7-0 Pirate run to start the contest. The Bucs also closed the half on a 7-0 run, including a three-pointer by Jessica Thoens, to take a 33-14 lead into halftime.
But the Pirates went stone cold against the L&C defense in the opening minutes of the second half. Whitworth scored only five points over the first 12 minutes of the period. Afolabi drained a pair of free throws to pull the Pioneers to within 38-29 with only eight minutes left in the game. But Lexie Zappone hit a tough jumper in the key on Whitworth's next possession to begin to get the Pirates out of their offensive funk.
The lead was still only nine when Belton-Sharp hit her fourth three-pointer of the game with just under four minutes to go. McConnell followed with a three-point play. The Pirate lead would remain in double digits the rest of the way.
"I was pleased that we got big shots from Katara and KC down the stretch," Higgs said.
While Whitworth struggled from the floor, the Pirates did great damage at the free throw line, making 17 of their 18 attempts (94.4%). They outscored the Pioneers 17-4 at the charity stripe.
Jessica Kramer grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as Whitworth finished with a 35-33 edge on the boards. McConnell dished four of the Pirates' eight assists. They helped the Bucs overcome their second-worst shooting night of the season. Only a 29% night at College of Idaho was lower.
Whitworth has a chance to tie the best start in school history (12-0) when the Pirates host Whitman College on Tuesday night in the Fieldhouse.
