Walla Walla, Wash. – The Lady Missionaries moved to within a half-game of first place in the Northwest Conference and garnered sole possession of second with a 49 – 46 overtime win against No. 18 George Fox at the Sherwood Athletic Center tonight. For complete NWC standings click Standings.
Senior forward Mary Madden (Huntington Beach, CA)led Whitman with 13 points and 8 rebounds and junior post Meghan White (Huntington Beach, CA) added 10 points and 8 rebounds. Just shy of a double-double, also, was junior post Sarah Anderegg (Redmond, WA), who recorded 9 points and hauled down 10 boards. The Whits won the rebound battle 56 to 41.
Madden hit a three-pointer with 58-seconds left in the overtime to give the Missionaries a 47 – 44 lead. Hannah Munger answered for the Bruins with short jumper to cut the lead to one, and had a chance to tie the game by converting the three-point play – she was fouled by White on the shot – but could not convert.
Whitman got the rebound and point-guard Heather Johns sank two free-throws to provide the winning margin after drawing a blocking foul in the backcourt with 3 seconds left. Madden intercepted the inbounds pass and the buzzer sounded.
The Missionaries led almost the entire game in regulation, holding a 25 – 15 halftime advantage, but the Bruins scored the first two buckets of the second half, a turn-around jumper by Munger and layup by point-guard Hayley Cusick to cut the lead to six.
George Fox kept whittling away and tied the game on a short jumper by Munger with just over three minutes left. Johns hit a pull-up jumper to give the lead back to Whitman at the 2:10 mark. Both teams had several scoreless trips before Cusick stole the ball from Anderegg in the backcourt and took it the distance to tie the game at 39 – 39 with twenty seconds left. Whitman played for a last shot but a long jumper went wayward, sending the game into OT.
Munger led the Bruins with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Megan Arnoldy added 9 points and 5 rebounds.
Just like their first meeting in Newburg, tonight's game was a defensive battle with baskets hard to come by. Whitman shot 27 % from the field, George Fox 31.5 %.
The Missionaries (18 – 4) have Saturday night off before playing their final two regular season games on the road next Friday and Saturday at Willamette and Linfield. George Fox (17 – 5) travels to face Whitworth tomorrow night before finishing the season at PLU and at Puget Sound.
Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
509.527.5902