WALLA WALLA, Wash. – An 11-1 run to open the second half for Whitman neutralized a strong performance from Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.) Saturday night as the host Missionaries came from behind to beat the Boxers 70-55 in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Sherwood Center.
Jensen posted her best performance of the conference season, putting together a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds, connecting on 9 of 18 from the field. The effort was not enough to overcome a solid all-around shooting night for the Missionaries (9-7, 4-4 NWC), who connected on 51.9 percent from the field (28-54).
Erica Schultz (Jr., Medford, Ore.) was the only other Pacific player to score double figures, connecting for six of her 10 points in the second half. The Boxers (5-12, 1-7 NWC) finished shooting 35.1 percent from the field (20-57) after shooting 43.3 percent in the first half.
Jenele Peterson led Whitman with 17 points, connecting on 5 of 10 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Rebecca Sexton came off the bench to score 11 while Sarah Anderegg finished with 10.
Pacific got off to a strong first half start thanks in part to Jensen, who scored 11 points and pulled nine rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. The Boxers owned a two-point lead when Alissa Nergaard's (Fr., Convington, Wash.) lay-in sparked a 9-0 run. Jensen scored four of those points, including the closing lay-in with 12:16 to go that gave the Boxers a 16-5 advantage.
The Missionaries managed to come back within five on a Tiffani Brewer lay-in before Nergaard and Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) fueled a 6-0 run to go back up by 11 points, 24-13, at the 7:12 mark. Whitman responded with suffocating defense that fueled a 7-0 run, culminating on an Anderegg lay-in that brought them Missionaries back within three at the 5-minute mark. The Boxers built the lead back to eight on Schultz's jumper with 3:41 left, but the Missionaries kept pace and a jumper by Jennifer Keyes with 11 seconds left to reduce the Boxers' halftime lead to two at 32-30.
Whitman opened the second half on a tear, scoring the first nine points in the period ant out-scoring the Boxers 11-2 over the opening five minutes. Catelyn Webber closed the run with her jumper at the 16:02 mark as the Missionaries built a 41-33 lead. Pacific closed back to within three on Jensen's jumper with 13 minutes left, but another string of six unanswered points put the Missionaries back up nine, 74-38, at the 10:33 mark.
From that point, the Boxers went on 9-3 run of their own, fueled by four points from Jensen, that brought the Boxers within 50-47 with 7:42 left. That's as a close as the Boxers would get as the Missionaries outscored Pacific 20-7 the rest of the way.
Pacific will now open the second half of the NWC season with a three-game home stand. The Boxers host the Tacoma-area schools next weekend with Puget Sound coming into the Stoller Center on Friday and Pacific Lutheran on Saturday.