FOREST GROVE – Four double digit performances, including 16 points from Sarah Curl, proved three points too little for the Pacific women's basketball team as the Boxers fell 67-64 to the Whitman Missionaries on Saturday inside of the Stoller Center.
 
For the first time in four games the Boxers did not score the opening points of the game as the Missionaries opened the game on a 7-0 run before Curl (So., Portland, Ore.) hit a pair of free throws to put Pacific on the scoreboard.
 
The Boxers first points from the field came with 15:16 on the clock when Olivia Cook (Sr., Beaverton, Ore.) lay in her first points of the afternoon.
 
The next minute saw the two sides exchange turnovers until Kyla Siri (Spring Creek, Nev.) followed up a Whitman layup with one of her own to pull the Boxers within six points of the visitors with 13:41 left in the period.
 
The Missionaries carried momentum through the opening period and led by as many as 11 points with nine minutes remaining in the half before Siri hit a pair from the free throw line to cut the Missionaries' lead to nine points.
 
The Boxers managed to cut Whitman's lead to as few as three points, but the Missionaries were able to outlast the home side in the opening period and head to the locker room with a 32-25 lead at halftime.
 
The second period opened with the Missionaries jumping out to an eight-point lead with 15:01 left on the clock before Curl and Nani Ostrom (Sr., Juneau, Alaska) connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and Abby Jones (Sr., Haines, Alaska) hit a free throw to pull Pacific within one at 42-41 with 13:10 left in regulation.
 
After layups by both sides, the Boxers entered the final 11:30 trailing by one to the Missionaries, but Whitman again strung a run of points together a 9-2 run to take a 53-45 lead with 8:22 left in the second period.
 
Jones ran off five-straight points to pull the Boxers within three of the Missionaries. The two sides exchanged makes heading into the final three minutes of the game with the Boxers trailing by five.
 
A 3-pointer by Whitman with 2:25 on the clock pushed the Missionaries ahead by eight, but Curl scored five-straight points to pull Pacific within three of Whitman.
 
Curl's fast break 3-point make with 1:32 on the clock, looked like a momentum changer for the Boxers, but Whitman promptly responded with a layup and forced a Pacific turnover just under the one-minute mark.
 
After a free throw for the Missionaries extended the Whitman lead to six, Ostrom struck from beyond the arc to sneak Pacific back within three with 45 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
The Boxers got a stop on the defensive end but ran out of time as a late 3-point attempt missed its mark and the Missionaries snuck away with a three-point victory.
 
Curl led Pacific on the offensive end with 16 points, while Ostrom chipped in 13 and Siri notched 12 off of the bench.
 
Kaila Johnson (Sr., McKinleyville, Calif.) led the Boxers with three assists, while on the defensive end Ostrom recorded three steals to go along with Johnson's two thefts. On the boards, the Boxers were led by Curl's eight rebounds. Cook chipped in seven rebounds in the loss.
 
After playing a ranked Whitworth on Friday and defending conference champion Whitman on Saturday, the Boxers tough stretch of the season continues on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. meeting at No. 11/10 George Fox.