by Kelsey Segren, Sports Information Assistant

Sydney Abbott and Talia Brandner had career nights for Whitworth, but the Pirates' second half comeback fell just short, as the visiting No. 12 Whitman Blues held on to the 84-79 win in Tuesday night's Northwest Conference women's basketball game.

Whitworth (9-7, 2-5 NWC) trailed by as many as 27 points in the second period, but nearly pulled off the comeback, outscoring Whitman 54-35 over the final two periods. The Pirates tied the game at 71-71 with 03:58 left in the game, but Whitman (14-2, 6-1) held on at the free throw line to avoid the upset.

The Pirates got off to a slow start, opening the game with three consecutive turnovers in the first minute of play. Mady Burdett made her third three of the quarter less than five minutes in to give the Blues a 15-6 lead. Whitman shot 61.1% (11-18) from the field and 4-6 (66.7%) from beyond the arc to enter the second up 26-12.

The Blues held the Pirates to 31.3% (5-16) from the field and 1-5 from three-point range in the second to bring their lead to 49-25 at halftime. Burdett made her fourth three of the game (4-4) to give Whitman a 23-point lead (40-17) with 05:41 remaining in the period. Burdett tallied 18 points for the Blues through the first half.

Whitworth beat their halftime total in the third quarter alone, outscoring the Blues 30-19. The Pirates were hot from beyond the arc, shooting 6-10 on the quarter thanks to four threes from Brandner, who totaled 14 points in the period. Brandner ended the third with a half court buzzer beater to enter the fourth down 68-55.

The Pirates kept the comeback alive in the fourth after an Abbott layup followed by a three-pointer from Quincy McDeid pulled the Bucs within single digits for the first time since 02:12 in the first quarter. McDeid sent in another three followed by baskets from Macey Morales and Brandner to pull the Pirates within one (69-68) with 06:53 to go. Abbott put in a layup and free throw to tie the game at 71-71 with just under four minutes remaining in the game.

After a 7-1 run by the Blues, Brandner knocked in her fifth three of the night as the Pirates trailed 78-75 with just over 30 seconds left in the game. After scoring 18 points through the first half, Burdett got her first two points of the second half for the Blues on a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left on the clock. Whitman made enough of its free throws down the stretch to hold on to the 84-79 victory over Whitworth.

The Pirates shot 36.8% (7-19) from the free throw line on the game, their lowest percentage of the season.

Abbott earned a career-high 26 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for Whitworth. Brandner finished with a career-high 22 points, on 5-7 shooting from three-point range. Brandner scored 20 of her points in the second half. McDeid added 12 points to give the Bucs three double-digit scorers on the night.

Burdett finished with 22 points for the Blues, making four of eight of her attempts from three. Kaylie McCracken tallied 16 points off the bench. Kaelyn Shamseldin and Lily Gustafson tallied 12 points apiece. Gustafson also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Up next, Whitworth hosts Linfield on Friday at 6 p.m.