Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. – Pacific gave Whitworth a battle for the first 30 minutes Saturday night, but the Pirates outscored the Boxers 20-11 over the final eight minutes to score a 75-66 victory in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
 
The Boxers led by as much as seven points in the first half and went into halftime tied at 34-34.  The game was tied at 55-55 with 8:36 to go before the Pirates went on their deciding run.  Pacific shot 5 for 10 during the stretch, but turned the ball over five times in the same span to help Whitworth close the game out.
 
Sarah Curl (Fr., Portland, Ore.) led Pacific with 14 points off the bench, shooting 6 of 9 from the field with two assists and two steals.  Olivia Mayorga-Overtone (Jr., Oakland, Calif.) added 13 points while Olivia Cook (Jr., Beaverton, Ore.) scored 10 to go along with eight rebounds.  Pacific finished the night shooting 45.2 percent from the field (28-62) and shot 55.6 percent in the second half.
 
KC McConnell led Whitworth a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Kayla Johnson equaled McConnell's 19 points, Katara Belton-Sharp added 15 points and Jessica Kramer scored 10 points.  Whitworth finished the night shooting 41.2 percent from the field (28-68).
 
With the win, Whitworth improved to 14-5, 8-2 NWC.  Pacific dropped to 5-13, 1-9 NWC.
 
Pacific proved the worthy opponent throughout the first half, building a 20-13 lead on Curl's jumper at the 9:52 mark of the first half.  Whitworth then went on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 21-21 with 7:17 left.  Whitworth eventually built their to a 30-26 lead on Johnson's lay-up with 5:05 left, but the Boxers came back to tie things at 30-30 on Mayorga-Overtone's jumper.  The teams traded baskets over the final two-and-a-half minutes as the teams went into halftime tied at 34-34.
 
Whitworth led for the majority of the second half, but would not be able to shake the Boxers until late.  The Pirates pulled ahead 44-38 on Kendra Lahue's lay-in with 14:44 left, only to watch Pacific come back and tie it at 51-51 on Mayorga-Overtone's fastbreak jumper. 
 
The game was tied at 55-55 when Kramer's jumper with 8:15 to go sparked the Pirates' winning stretch run.  The bucket opened a 10-0 run for Whitworth, which culminated on Kramer's jumper with 4:21 left.  Whitworth eventually built to their largest lead to 73-60 on McConnell's three-pointer with 2:06 to go.
 
Pacific will return home for a pair of games next week.  The Boxers will host Willamette on Tuesday and George Fox on Friday, with a 6 p.m. tipoff both nights.  Live audio and video webcasts of the games will be available at GoBoxers.com.