PASADENA, Calif. – Keely Maves scored a season-high 20 points to lead Whitworth to a 63-41 victory over Caltech in a non-conference women's basketball matchup on Saturday afternoon.
The Pirates (3-1) never trailed and handed the Beavers (3-1) their first loss of the season.
Whitworth got off to a hot start and began the game on a 16-2 run. Alex Goetz and Ashlyn Neilsen each had five points during that stretch. Caltech's Carolyn Ruan hit a three-pointer followed by a Kathryn Edwards layup to close the Pirate lead to eight at the end of the first quarter.
The teams traded baskets in the second quarter with Whitworth maintaining its lead. A Maves free-throw with 1:14 left gave her 11th point of the quarter and 17th of the game before Ashlyn Peterson knocked down a jumper to give the Pirates a 35-22 advantage at the half. Caltech struggled to get shots to fall and shot 25% (5-20 FG) from the field in the second quarter. Edwards led the Beavers with 13 points at halftime.
Caltech clawed back to start the third quarter. Edwards and Anamaria Robertson made back-to-back layups to shorten the Pirate lead to 38-30. The comeback was short-lived after Bair completed an and-one and Peterson nailed a three-pointer to put the Pirates back up 14 with 4:06 left in the third. A Bri Talley steal and layup gave the Pirates a 50-31 lead with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Beavers started the first 2:35 of the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run, but Caltech would fail to score for the remainder of the game. Whitworth limited quality offensive looks and held the Beavers to just three field goals on 20 attempts to close the game. Bair and Addyson Gallatin each hit a three-pointer in the final two minutes to cap the Pirate win.
Whitworth finished the game shooting 36.4% from the field and 21.4% from three-point range. The Pirates outrebounded the Beavers 53-42, with 19 of those coming on the offensive end. Maves led Whitworth with 20 points on 9-13 shooting. Neilsen and Peterson each had nine points, with Neilsen adding 11 rebounds and Peterson adding five assists. Bair grabbed 11 rebounds and scored eight points.
Edwards led Caltech with a game-high 22 points on 9-21 from the field, adding four blocks and 13 rebounds.
The Whitworth women are back in action Sunday afternoon at Whittier.
