TACOMA, Wash. - A strong second-half rally by visiting Whitworth fell short as Puget Sound eliminated the Pirates from the Northwest Conference Tournament with a 71-64 semifinal win on Thursday night at Memorial Fieldhouse.

Whitworth, champions of the last two NWC tournaments, was denied an opportunity for a third consecutive title with the semifinal loss. Puget Sound will travel to face top-seeded George Fox in the tournament championship on Saturday in Newberg, Ore.

The No. 18/23 Loggers entered the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 23/24 Whitworth, seeded third, for the second time in the past week. Whitworth fell to 21-5 while Puget Sound improved to 23-3.

Puget Sound built a five-point halftime lead to 15 points during the second half before Whitworth rallied over the final eight minutes of the game to cut the deficit to 65-64 with 2:07 to play. A 9-1 Whitworth run with less than five minutes remaining was punctuated with a three-point play by Kendra Knutsen followed by a layup from Katara Belton-Sharp to come within a point of Puget Sound.

Puget Sound's Alex Noren then hit 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to 66-64. The Pirates had a chance to tie or take the lead but a 3-point attempt from Kendra Knutsen was off the mark and the Pirates were held scoreless the rest of the way. The Loggers made five of eight free-throw attempts over the final 1:09 to preserve the win.

The Loggers never trailed in the contest, jumping to a 10-2 lead. After that point the Pirates cut the deficit to three points on two occasions in the opening half but Puget Sound responded each time and led 34-29 at half.

KC McConnell led Whitworth with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Belton-Sharp added 14 points and nine rebounds while Callie Harwood scored a career-high 14 points. Knutsen added 12 points for the Pirates.

Amanda Forshay scored a game-high 20 points for Puget Sound to go along with 11 rebounds. Emily Sheldon added 13 points while Noren and Katy Ainslie each scored 11 points. Ashley Agcaoili contributed nine points.

Both teams pulled down 41 rebounds and the Loggers committed 12 turnovers compared with 11 for the Pirates. Puget Sound shot 41.5 percent (22-53) from the field, including 3-8 on 3-point attempts while the Pirates shot 34.4 percent (24-70) and were 3-17 from long range.

George Fox defeated Whitman 78-64 in the other tournament semifinal on Thursday. The Bruins last won the NWC Tournament in 2012 while the Loggers will be seeking their first tournament crown since 2008 when the teams face off in the championship on Saturday.