SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth overcame a seven-point halftime deficit with a dominant start to the second half and held off Pacific University for a 66-58 win Saturday on Senior Night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

No. 19/21 Whitworth (20-3, 11-3 Northwest Conference) clinched its third-straight 20-win season and fifth overall with the victory against Pacific (9-14, 5-9). Four of the five 20-win seasons have come during Helen Higgs' tenure as head coach.

Saturday's contest featured a series of momentum shifts and offensive spurts in each half, highlighted by a pair of key Whitworth runs early in the second half which proved to be the difference.

The Pirates trailed 29-22 at halftime before Katara Belton-Sharp scored 12 of her 16 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to spark the Whitworth offense. The Pirates began the second half with a 9-0 spurt to take a 31-29 lead before the Boxers scored to tie the game.

The Pirates then reeled off a 12-2 run, led by seven points from Belton-Sharp, to stretch the lead to double digits.

The Boxers closed to within 52-48 with 3:23 to play, but KC McConnell answered with a 3-pointer and Pacific was unable to cut the lead to fewer than six points the rest of the way. Whitworth made seven of eight free-throw attempts in the final minute to preserve the victory.

A series of runs also highlighted the first half, as Pacific jumped to an 8-0 lead to begin the contest. McConnell helped Whitworth answer the start, scoring six points as part of a 9-0 Whitworth run to give the Pirates a one-point lead.

However the Boxers answered with a second 8-0 run in the half for an 18-10 lead. The Pirates then scored five straight points before Pacific responded to stretch the lead back to eight points en route to the seven-point halftime advantage.

Zappone equaled Belton-Sharp's scoring output with 16 points for the Pirates. McConnell added 15 points. Belton-Sharp also grabbed nine rebounds to come within a rebound of posting a double-double for the second consecutive game while Zappone recorded five steals.

Sarah Curl and Olivia Cook had 13 points apiece to lead the Boxers. Kyla Siri added 11 points for Pacific.

Whitworth shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the opening half but shot 51.7 percent after halftime. For the game, the Boxers shot 49 percent from the field, compared with 40.4 percent for the Pirates.

The Pirates pulled down 33 rebounds compared with 31 for the Boxers but held a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds.

Prior to the start of the game, Whitworth seniors JoJo Nicolas, Kendra Knutsen, Jessica Kramer, Zappone and Belton-Sharp were honored for Senior Night.

Whitworth is tied with Puget Sound for second place in the conference standings behind conference-leading George Fox. Two games remain on the regular season schedule for each team.

The Pirates will travel to western Washington to close out the regular season, taking on Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound next weekend.