SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth used a 16-0 run early in the second half to put away what had been a close games Friday night as the Pirates rolled to a 74-52 victory over Pacific in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
After building a four-point cushion going into halftime, the Pirates (9-8, 5-3 NWC) went on a 19-4 run over the first nine minutes of the second half, including a run of 16 unanswered points, that effectively handed the Pirates their third straight win.
Kandice McArthur (Jr., Post Falls, Idaho) led Pacific with 13 points, just missing her season high, which included three three-pointers. Erica Schultz (Jr., Medford, Ore.) added 10 points and two blocks while Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.) pulled down eight rebounds. The Boxers (5-11, 1-6 NWC) shot 39.2 percent from the field (20-51), but had 19 few shot attempts than the Pirates and were forced into 29 turnovers.
Taylor Taylor led Whitworth's scoring with 16 points on 6 of 10 from the field. Emily Guthrie added 15, all on three-pointers. Lexi Belcher came off the bench for 13 points and four steals and Lauren Picha contributed 11. The Pirates shot 38.6 percent from the field (27-70) and shot 46.4 percent from three-point range, including 7 for 10 in the second half.
What looked like a closely matched contest on paper played out that way in the first half with the teams tying the game six times and trading leads nine times. The Boxers opened the game with a wide-open three-pointer by Schultz. It was the first of four three-point advantages Pacific would enjoy in the stanza despite committing 15 turnovers.
Schultz gave the Boxers a 28-25 lead with 3:20 left, but Whitworth capitalized on the turnovers to outscore Pacific 14-7 to close the half. Kayla Johnson converted a steal into a fast-break lay-in to give the Pirates their largest lead of six with 26 seconds left, but Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) responded by taking the ball the length of the court for a quick lay-in to cut the lead to four, 39-35 at half.
Pacific was down five points with four minutes gone in the second half when Picha nailed a three-pointer that started the deciding 16-0 run. Taylor closed it out with a back-to-back three-pointer and lay-in as the Pirates rolled out to a 54-37 lead at the 13:03 mark. Picha then made it a 19-point advantage with a free throw with 12:13 to go.
The Boxers found their shooting touch on their next two possessions and cut the lead to 15 on a jumper by Schultz with 10:33 left. The Pirates kept the heat on, building back to an 18-point advantage before the Kaley Adams (Fr., Seattle, Wash.) reduced the lead to 14 points with her jumper at the 4:30 mark. Pacific would not hit another field goal the rest of the way as the Pirates went up by as much as 22 in the final minutes.
Pacific completes the rugged eastern Washington road trip on Saturday, traveling down to Walla Walla to take on Whitman. Game time is 6 p.m.