PORTLAND, Ore. – KC McConnell hit two free throws with five seconds left to cap a come-from-behind 55-52 Whitworth victory at Lewis & Clark College on Saturday night at the Pamplin Sports Center.

The Pirate defense held the Pioneers to two points over the final eight and a half minutes of the game to improve to 11-8 overall and 6-4 in the Northwest Conference, ending a brief two-game losing streak.  L&C dropped to 2-17 overall, 1-9 in the NWC.

McConnell scored a game-high 21 points, including the final six points of the game.  She went 4-4 from the free throw line in the contest and those were the final points of the game for either team.

McConnell's basket five minutes into the game gave the Pirates an 11-5 lead and Whitworth led 15-12 after one quarter.  But Lewis & Clark outscored the Pirates 20-8 in the second period to take a 32-23 lead into the locker rooms. 

The Pioneers stretched their lead to as many as 12 points on three occasions in the third quarter, the final time when Kaitlin Mathewson's basket made the score 41-29.  L&C still led 47-37 at the end of the third.

Early in the fourth quarter Alyx Crager drained a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 50-39 lead with 8:27 to play in the game.  But L&C would only score two more points the rest of the way.  McConnell keyed the comeback by scoring 10 of her points in the final period.

After McConnell hit her first two free throws of the game with 22 seconds to play, giving the Bucs a 53-52 lead, L&C had four chances to tie the game.  But each time the Pioneers grabbed an offensive rebound they followed with a missed layup until Jessica Thoens finally grabbed the ball for the Pirates and called timeout with nine seconds left.  After Whitworth got the ball inbounds to McConnell she was fouled and hit the clinching free throws.

Callie Harwood was the only other Pirate player in double figures with ten points.  McConnell had nine rebounds, while Faith Emerson and Chloe Quinnett each grabbed seven boards.  Whitworth finished the game 22-63 (35%) from the field, including 2-16 (12.5%) from three-point range. 

Crager was the only Pioneer player in double figures, finishing with 11 points.  Mathewson scored nine and grabbed seven rebounds.  L&C finished 19-58 (33%) from the field, including 5-20 (25%) from beyond the arc.

Whitworth returns to action on Tuesday night with a game at Whitman, the Bucs' third straight on the road.