TACOMA, Wash. – In a back and forth battle that was extended into OT, the University of Puget Sound women's basketball team pulled out a 69-60 victory over Whitworth on Friday. The Loggers (16-4, 9-2 NWC) scored the first nine points of the overtime period to surge away with the victory.

"Every single game we play is a huge game," said sophomore Kelsey McKinnis. "We had to do what we what to do to take control."

All the Loggers did was outscore the Pirates (10-10, 6-5 NWC) 14-5 in the extra frame led by eight points for McKinnis. She finished with 20 points on the night and tallied three steals. Jocelyn Riordan had a game-high 21 points.

"(Whitworth) hit a great shot and got the momentum at the end of regulation," commented head coach Loree Payne. "It was our opportunity going into ovtime to get stops and to execute. We really established tempo in overtime. We took control and slowed things down a little bit."

Emily Guthrie led the Pirates into overtime as she hit a three-pointer with four seconds left on the clock. She finished with eight points in the game and Lexi Belcher had a team-high 17 points for the Pirates.

True to their nature the NWC's stingiest defense held the Pirates to 33.9 percent shooting from the floor and just 28.6 percent shooting from three-point range. The Pirates top the NWC in three-point percentage with over 38 percent on the season.

The Loggers also took control of the boards in the second half and overtime after being outrebounded by 11 in the first half. Sarah Stewart led the way with 10 boards, including four of the Loggers' 18 on the offensive glass.

There were five ties and 11 lead changes in a constant back-and-forth battle that needed five extra minutes to be decided.

The Loggers will take the court again tomorrow when they host Whitman at 4 p.m.