SPOKANE, Wash. - Makana Stone led all scorers with 18 points on 9-15 shooting and the No. 21 Whitman College women's basketball team led from start to finish in a 90-51 season-opening rout over Concordia (TX) Friday night in the opener of the Whit Classic.
Kaelan Shamseldin added 17 points for the Blues (1-0) who scored the game's first 14 points in only 2:40. Stone scored the last six points of the run as the Blues were off and running. Lily Gustafson flirted with a double double with eight points and eight rebounds and Mady Burdett contributed 10 points.
Peyton Berger led the Concordia (0-1) effort with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Whitman kept its foot on the pedal as Burdett scored on a layup then hit from distance to put the Blues up 21-5. The Tornadoes shaved the deficit to seven points by quarter's end, but that did little to affect the final scoreline.
The second quarter saw the Blues extend the lead to as many as 20 points. A Taylor Chambers three pushed the lead to 12 points and, later, back-to-back jumpers from Stone and a bucket from Natalie Whitesel gave the Blues a 32-14 lead with 6:32 to play until halftime. Shamseldin nailed a triple to push the lead to 20 points and Whitman carried an 18-point lead into the break.
Whitman outscored Concordia by 13 in the third quarter to blow the game wide open. The Blues ran off nine straight points ignited by back-to-back Stone buckets and a Shamseldin three pointer to push the lead to 31 points, and the rout was on.
The Blues are back in action at the Whit Classic on Saturday with a matchup against Carroll College (Mont.). Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m.