WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Despite three offensive efforts of over 15 points and a fourth-straight double-double from Olivia Cook, the Pacific women's basketball dropped a Northwest Conference road game at Whitman 68-63.
 
The Missionaries opened the game with a four-point run before Kaila Johnson (Sr., McKinleyville, Calif.) hit a jumper and then promptly picked Heather Johns' pocket to set-up a Cook (Sr., Beaverton, Ore.) layup off an assist from Kelsey Misseldine (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) to tie the game at 4-4.
 
Emily Rommel gave the Missionaries a short lead, before Sarah Curl (So., Portland, Ore.) collected a pass from Johnson and hit a 3-pointer to give Pacific its first lead of the evening.
 
Whitman responded to Pacific's one-point advantage with a six-point run to regain the lead and extend its lead to five points with 14:40 left in the opening period.
 
The Boxers chipped away at Whitman's lead, but was unable to control momentum until the 12:27 mark when a Cook layup put the scoreline at 14-11, in Whitman's favor.
 
Whitman exited a media timeout with a missed layup, which was recovered by Cook and promptly delivered to Kyla Siri (Jr., Spring Creek, Nev.), who hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 14-14.
 
Pacific's run continued until the 7:01 mark, as the Boxers' run reached 10 points before Chelsi Brewer broke the Whitman drought and pulled the Missionaries within two on a 3-pointer.
 
The Missionaries and Boxers exchanged makes over the next six minutes until a 3-pointer from Johnson gave Pacific a four-point lead with a little over a minute left in the first period.
 
Whitman was not ready to head into the locker room trailing the Boxers and rattled off four-straight points to close out the half tied 29-29 with Pacific.
 
Pacific regained the lead for a short period when Cook opened the second period with a jumper. Brewer and Johns scored on back-to-back Whitman possessions before a layup at 17:55 from Cook tied the game at 33-33. The Missionaries grabbed a two-point advantage on a Johns jumper and looked to push away after increasing their lead to six points, but with 15:28 remaining in regulation a Johnson 3-pointer pulled Pacific back within three.
 
Curl scored for Pacific out of the ensuing media timeout, followed by a layup at 12:34 from Maia LaBoy (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii) to take a one-point lead. Pacific's lead following LaBoy's layup was the Boxers' final of the evening as Whitman recaptured the lead with 11:51 on the clock and pushed the advantage to as many as eight points when Johns hit a jumper with 2:59 left in the period.
 
Pacific cut into the Missionaries' lead late, but a pair of free throws with two seconds left in regulation from Johns secured Whitman's five-point victory over the visiting Boxers.
 
Cook finished the evening with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Curl and Johnson finished with 17 points and 16 points, respectively.
 
Pacific heads to Spokane, Wash., on Saturday for a 4 p.m. meeting with the No. 21/19 Whitworth Pirates.