PORTLAND, Ore. – Whitworth women's basketball put an end to its nine-game losing streak with a hard-fought 67-62 win over Lewis & College in a Northwest Conference women's basketball battle on Saturday at Pamplin Gymnasium.
The Pirates (2-13 overall, 1-5 NWC) never trailed and earned their first conference win behind a season-high 11 three-pointers made. The River Otters (5-10, 2-4 NWC), suffered their third consecutive loss to the Bucs.
Whitworth opened the game in dominant fashion, making its first four shots to take an early 9-0 lead after a layup from CC Size. A basket from Ashlyn Neilsen and two jumpers from Ashlyn Peterson extended the advantage to 19-5 at the 3:07 mark, their largest of the game. The River Otters closed the gap to ten before the Bucs closed the quarter with a 21-9 lead. Whitworth's defense held L&C to just 3-15 shooting from the floor while making eight of 14 attempts on the other end.
L&C scored the first five points of the second quarter before Ava DePew and Peterson hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back out to 27-14 at the 7:50 mark. The River Otters again scored five consecutive points to trim the deficit, but the Pirates battled and took a 31-24 lead into the locker rooms. The Bucs shot 48% (12-25) in the first two quarters to the River Otters 29% (9-31). Peterson led all scorers with 10 points and DePew grabbed nine first half rebounds.
Whitworth outscored the River Otters 16-14 in a hotly contested third quarter. L&C cut the deficit to six on three occasions, but the Bucs cushioned their lead with a 9-2 run capped off with a long-distance bucket from Size with 3:42 to play in the quarter. A pair of layups from Lauren Frederickson brought the River Otters to within 47-38 heading into the final frame.
The Pirates maintained a ten-point lead midway through the final quarter, but L&C wouldn't go away. After Peterson hit another three-pointer with 3:42 to play, the River Otters scored six unanswered to get within 60-57, the closest margin since the first quarter. Neilsen followed with a layup and Peterson's free throw pushed the lead to six with 37 seconds to play. Both teams took trips to the free throw line, with Gallatin knocking down a pair with four seconds left to ice the game.
The Pirates shot 47.9% (23-48) from the field and held L&C to 33.3% (22-66). Whitworth overcame 23 turnovers by shooting a season-high 61.1% (11-18) from three-point range, including going 7-7 in the second half.
Peterson led all scorers with 23 points and dished a team-high five assists. Gallatin had 14 points and Size added 11. DePew finished with 10 rebounds to help Whitworth win the rebound battle 37-26.
Frederickson led the River Otters with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kaitlen Carns was the only other L&C player in double figures with 13.
The Whitworth women will look to build on the win on January 23rd when Puget Sound heads to Spokane.
