Whitworth's last-second layup attempt rolled off the rim, giving the Pacific Lutheran women their first Northwest Conference win 66-64 on Saturday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. The win gives the Lutes a 4-8 overall record and a 1-4 NWC mark. Whitworth falls to 5-9, 0-5.

The teams started out evenly matched in the first quarter until a 9-0 Pacific Lutheran run put the Lutes ahead 15-7. A five-point Whitworth run closed the gap to 18-14. Kimberly Dewey closed out the quarter with a jumper for the Pirates to trail 20-16. Whitworth shot 46.2% compared to the Lutes' 57.1%. The Pirates out-rebounded Pacific Lutheran 7-6, but lost the turnover battle 3-2.

The Lute lead grew to 29-20 in the second quarter, but a nine-point Pirate run tied up the score. Olivia Mayer tallied four of those nine points. A last-second three pointer by Mady Simmelink put Pacific Lutheran ahead 34-30 to end the half. Both teams' shooting percentages dropped in the quarter, with the Lutes shooting 37.5% and the Pirates shooting a slightly better 38.5%. Whitworth made only four of 11 free throws in the quarter. Pacific Lutheran had 13 rebounds, four more than the Pirates.

Whitworth outscored Pacific Lutheran 25-22 in the third quarter, although both teams shot 52.9% from the field on 17 attempts. Back-to-back layups from Quincy McDeid and Mayer tied the game at 45. The teams traded shots for most of the quarter until McDeid sank two free-throws to end the quarter trailing by one, 56-55.

Only 19 total points were scored in the fourth quarter. The Lutes shot 33.3% from the field and the Pirates shot a game-worst 10.5%. Whitworth shot seven free throws in the quarter and made four. Pacific Lutheran got out to a 64-59 lead behind an Ava Edmonds layup and two Josie Napoli free throws. A Madison Hagen three pointer and two Mayer free-throws tied the game at 64, before a Stacie Spahr layup with 2.1 seconds remaining on the clock put the Lutes up 66-64. Whitworth's last-second layup attempt by Devyn Cope off the inbound pass rolled off the rim and gave Pacific Lutheran their first conference win.

Josie Napoli had 18 points and six assists for the Lutes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Spahr added 15 points and nine rebounds for PLU, who finished the game 27-59 (45.8%) from the field.

Oliva Mayer recorded a career-high 21 points and 8 rebounds for the Pirates.  McDeid added 12 and Hagen had 11.  Whitworth made 22-62 (35.5%) from the floor.

Whitworth returns to the Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Jan 18 at 6pm to make up a cancelled Jan 8 game against Linfield.