WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitman took it to visiting Whitworth from the opening tip, claiming the season's first women's basketball Battle of Whits 74-39 on Tuesday night at the Sherwood Center.

The Blues improved to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in the Northwest Conference while the Pirates drop to 1-11, 0-3.  Both teams travel to NWC favorite Linfield this weekend with the Bucs set to play the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon (3:00 pm).

Whitman never trailed, jumping ahead 13-2 three and half minutes into the game.  The Blue led 24-10 after the first quarter after making 47% of their shots and dominating the boards 15-2, including eight offensive rebounds.

Whitworth briefly cut the margin to 28-15 on a basket by Ava DePew just over midway through the second quarter before Whitman went on an 8-0 run to open a 36-15 advantage late.  Mikiah Dunham made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to make it 36-17 at the break.  The Pirates cleaned up the rebounding (11-10), but committed eight turnovers in the quarter.  Emma Lena Baker had a double-double by halftime for the Blues with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Whitman steadily pulled away in the second half, never letting Whitworth make a comeback run.  The Blues outscored the Bucs 20-13 in the third and 18-9 in the fourth period. 

DePew was the only Pirate in double figures with ten points while adding a team-high eight rebounds.  Ashlyn Peterson, the NWC's leading scorer this season, was held to six points on 3 of 15 shooting.  But she did dish six assists. 

Whitworth was held to 14 of 55 from the field (25.5%), 2 of 14 from three-point range (14.3%). 

Baker finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Blues.  Morgan Montgomery added 21 points.  Whitman finished 28-69 from the floor (40.6%) and with a 47-29 edge on the glass.