SPOKANE, Wash.—Olivia Mayer's double-double led the Whitworth Pirates to an 81-64 victory over visiting Linfield in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game on Tuesday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates (6-9 overall, 1-5 NWC) picked up their first conference victory of the season. Linfield fell to 0-12 and 0-4 in the NWC in a game that was originally scheduled for Jan. 8 but was postponed by a severe storm that prevented the Wildcats from making the trip.

The first quarter got off to a slow start. After Whitworth scored the first basket of the game, Linfield scored the next seven points. The Pirates didn't score again until the last three minutes of the quarter, a six-minute scoring drought. Both teams combined for twelve points in the last two minutes of the quarter, ending in a 14-10 Linfield lead.

Whitworth outscored Linfield 26-11 in the second quarter, opening with a four-point run to tie the score. The Wildcats took the lead again 18-16 before consecutive five and six-point runs by the Pirates gave them a 27-10 lead. Whitworth shot 69.2% from the floor in the quarter, one of the Pirates' best offensive outputs of the season. The Pirates had 12 points off turnovers, five steals, and six second-chance points in the quarter. The teams went into the half 36-25, and 13 of those 36 points came from Olivia Mayer.

The teams traded runs in the third quarter. Whitworth opened on a 7-0 run, putting them up 45-29. Linfield answered with their own 5-0 run to cut the lead to 11. Another 7-0 Whitworth run followed, extending their lead 52-34, the largest of the game for the Pirates. The Wildcats responded with six unanswered points. They outscored the Pirates 24-20 in a quarter that ended with Whitworth up 56-49. Linfield improved its shooting to  56.3% in the period.

Linfield narrowed the lead again in the fourth quarter 63-58, but a 22 point performance by Mayer led the Whitworth offensive attack to pull out an 81-64 win. The Pirates finished the quarter on an eight-point run. 

Linfield ended the game with 20 turnovers. Whitworth had 26 of their 81 points off of those turnovers.

Meyer recorded 13 rebounds in addition to her 22 points in the victory, her second double-double of the season. Madison Hagen (12), Quincy McDeid (11), Tara Kaneshiro (10) and Devyn Cope (10) each reached double figures. Whitworth made 49.2% from the field in the game and outrebounded the Wildcats 37-28. 

Rowan Cusak scored 16 points for the Wildcats, and Emma Schmerbach had 14 points and seven rebounds.  Linfield finished the game making 47.4% from the floor.

Whitworth travels to Portland, Oregon to take on Lewis & Clark on Friday, Jan 21 at 6pm.