WALLA WALLA, Wash. —
Nikki Gilbert and
Sarah Curl finished with double-digit scoring, but the No. 15/16 Whitman Blues held off the Boxers in a 75-58 home victory inside of the Sherwood Center.
Karli McHone (Glenns Ferry, Idaho) opened the night with a 3-point make, kicking off an early back-and-forth with the biggest lead for either team coming at the 2:00 mark when a Whitman 3-pointer put the Blues up by four.
Lauren Lykins (Hillsboro, Ore.) responded with a 3-pointer of her own to pull Pacific within one before a made free throw put the Blues back up by two. The final make of the quarter came with 14 seconds remaining, when a Gilbert (East Wenatchee, Wash.) gave the Boxers a 23-22 lead at the end of the first period.
The Blues scored the first six points of the second quarter, before
Delaney Emerson (Portland, Ore.) hit a jumper to break the scoring streak. The Blues managed to extend their lead to eight points entering the final 25 seconds of the half. Pacific closed out the half with three-straight points by Curl (Portland, Ore.) and trailed 39-34 entering halftime.
Pacific returned from the locker room and outscored Whitman 11-4 over the opening four minutes of the second half to take a two point 45-43 lead at the 5:54 mark. Whitman tied the game back up at 45-45 before pushing out to nine point lead before time expired on the quarter.
Whitman outscored Pacific 15-0 over the first eight minutes of the final quarter to take a 24 point lead into the final two minutes of regulation.
Charli Elliott (Seattle, Wash.) scored the first Pacific points of the quarter, her first of the season, before Pacific tallied five more points before the buzzer sounded on the 75-58 Whitman victory.
Curl finished the night with a game-high 21 points, while also picking up six rebounds. Gilbert scored 18 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jillian Ross (St. Helens, Ore.) and
Merrily Jones (Milwaukie, Ore.) both finished with five rebounds.
The Boxers wrap-up an eight-game road swing on Tuesday with a short trip to McMinnville to meet the Linfield Wildcats at 6 p.m.
