McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Visiting Whitworth outscored Linfield 22-16 in the final quarter to pull out a 60-53 Northwest Conference women's basketball road win on Saturday evening in Ted Wilson Gym.
Olivia Mayer scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pirates, who improved to 6-11 overall and 3-5 in the NWC. The Wildcats fell to 8-8, 4-4.
Mayer posted her 15th double-double of the season, which leads all of NCAA Division III. She just missed her career-high in scoring by a single point and set Whitworth's record for field goal attempts in a game (28), breaking the mark of 24 set by Tiffany Speer.
Whitworth took a 13-10 lead after the first quarter, despite the fact the Pirates shot only 37.5% and Linfield shot 50%. But the Pirates forced the Wildcats into seven turnovers while committing only one. The Bucs had their largest lead at 11-6.
Whitworth led 19-14 midway through the second quarter on Mayer's basket. But the Pirates would only score two more points the rest of the half. Meanwhile Janessa Yniguez started an 8-1 run for Linfield with a three-pointer. The 'Cats led 22-21 at the break after Whitworth made only 22% (4-18) in the quarter. Mayer had 12 points at the half, more than half of the Bucs' total.
The Wildcats scored the first basket of the third quarter, but Whitworth answered with a 7-0 run, capped by Mayer's three-pointer, to take a 28-24 advantage. The Pirates took another five-point lead (34-29) on a Mayer jumper, but the 'Cats answered with five straight to tie the game for the final time. The Bucs led 38-34 when Linfield's Elyse Waldal hit a three-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter to get her squad back within one.
The Pirates took control in the fourth quarter, stretching the margin throughout the period. Madison Hagen opened the fourth with a three-pointer to answer the Wildcats' trey and Kimberly Dewey drove for a layup to give the Bucs their largest lead at 43-37. The Cats got within 49-45 on another three-pointer with 4:17 left, but Tara Kaneshiro answered with her own three-pointer at the other end. Whitworth finished the quarter 7 of 9 (77.8%) from the floor.
Dewey added 16 points for the Pirates on 7 of 11 shooting. Kaneshiro finished with seven points. The Bucs finished the game 24-58 (41%) from the floor, 3-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc. Linfield outrebounded Whitworth 37-33, but the Pirates committed only nine turnovers while forcing 21 by the Wildcats.
Yniguez led Linfield with 19 points. The Wildcats went 18-48 (37.5%) from the field, 6-20 (30%) from three-point range.
Whitworth will open the second half of its NWC schedule at home next weekend against PLU and Puget Sound.
