SPOKANE, Wash. — An upset two nights in a row was not quite meant to be for Pacific as the Whitworth Pirates held off the Boxers in a women's Northwest Conference basketball game on Saturday night, 73-64.

The loss for the Boxers, who upset No. 20 nationally ranked Whitman on Friday night, moves them back to 10-11 on the season and to 5-7 in conference play. The Pirates moved to 13-8 with the win at the Whitworth Fieldhouse, and they are now 8-4 in the Northwest Conference.

Sarah Curl led a valiant Pacific effort, after missing a chunk of the second quarter with an injury. She had just five points in the first half after getting injured while chasing a loose ball. The Boxers trailed by only three points when she left (25-22), but the Pirates took advantage of her absence and pushed their lead to 33-24 at the break.

But she came out of the locker room healed and on fire. She scored 21 second-half points, finishing with 26 and nine rebounds. She did most of her work in the fourth quarter, helping to erase a 15-point Pirate lead. Her basket with 2:10 left cut the margin to four points. She would score seven points in the final 2:10, but Whitworth answered at the free throw line in the person of K.C. McConnell, who hit six charity tosses in the final 28 seconds.

McConnell would finish with 25 points for the host Pirates and teammate Faith Emerson added 15. Whitworth hit 18-of-23 free throws, getting to the free throw line 19 more times than the Boxers. They also held a 36-22 rebound edge.

Karli McHone had 16 for the Boxers, hitting 4-of-5 three-point attempts. She had ten of her points in the first half. Kyla Siri was also in double figures with 12. Pacific hit 8-of-13 trey launches but only had the five free throw attempts, making four.

The Boxers will play their final two home games of the year next weekend, hosting Pacific Lutheran on Friday (Feb. 12) at 6 p.m. and Puget Sound on Saturday (4 p.m.).