SPOKANE, Wash. – Kimberly Dewey scored 27 points, Zalissa Sanfo added a career-high of 22 but Whitworth was beaten 90-89 on a buzzer beater by Karli Mukai to cap a stunning 11-3 run for visiting Lewis & Clark in the final 71 seconds of overtime.
Whitworth (6-15 overall, 3-9 NWC) lost its fourth straight in heartbreaking fashion as Lewis & Clark (4-16 overall, 2-10 NWC) snapped a seven-game skid, beating Whitworth in overtime in the Fieldhouse for the second straight season.
Both teams shot well above their average percentage in a high-scoring affair that featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes. Jamison Richards led L&C with 24 points, Charlotte Carroll and Mukai added 18 apiece.
It was a rollercoaster of emotions for Whitworth who erased an early double digit deficit only to see their own seven-point lead evaporate in the final 1:21 of overtime. With the game tied 77-77 Sanfo came up empty on an open layup with 15 seconds left which sent the game to overtime. But the freshmen scored the first five points of overtime before Maxwell buried a triple to give Whitworth an 86-79 lead.
But the Pioneers persevered.
Mukai buried a trey of her own on the following possession and Lauryn Fredrickson knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 86-84, but with 18 seconds left Dewey buried a pair of her own to keep Whitworth up four.
Jamison Richards knocked down a contested three to bring L&C within one, and after Alyssa Fitzgerald hit just 1-2 from the stripe the Pioneers had a chance to win, and Mukai delivered.
Mukai took a few dribbles seeking enough separation to get a shot off, and with the clock winding down the guard stepped back behind the arc and delivered the dagger as time expired. Mukai played 42 minutes, and they needed every last one to claim their second conference win of the year.
Whitworth shot 43.5% from the field but struggled once again in the fourth quarter and overtime shooting just 5-19 from the field and 12-18 from the line as they failed to close out the Pioneers. The Pirates are 1-6 at home this season.
L&C opened up a surprising double-digit lead early on as Kaela Guidry scored seven consecutive points including a three-point play to put Whitworth in a 23-13 hole with 1:56 left in the first quarter. But the Pirates responded with a 31-12 run of their own over the following nine minutes, and they led 46-41 at the break. Whitworth shot 61% in the second quarter in its second-highest scoring quarter of the season.
The Pirates will look to snap its five-game skid as they host George Fox and Linfield next weekend in their final home games of the season.
