SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - In a game that was as tight as could be through three quarters, the Whitman College women's basketball team used lockdown defense and a 9-0 fourth quarter run to pull out a 73-63 win over the University of Northwestern (MN) on Friday in the Hyatt Place December Classic at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The Blues (8-3) dominated the glass to the tune of a 51-37 rebound advantage. Maegen Martin led a well-balance offensive effort with her second double double of the season (10 pts, 12 reb). Mady Burdett and Makana Stone scored team highs of 12 points with Stone adding nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks and Burdett a team-best seven assists.

Miranda Crenshaw scored a game-high 14 points in the losing cause for the Eagles (4-7) who were deadlocked at 33-33 with the Blues at halftime. The start of the fourth quarter saw Amy Berglund's jumper put UNW up by one and later her three pointer cut a slim Whitman lead to only a single point.

The Whitman defense then tightened the screws, holding the Eagles to without a field goal for the final 5:57. Meanwhile, the Blues reeled off nine straight points and won going away. Back-to-back Lily Gustafson baskets put Whitman up by five before Brittaney Van Buren's three pointer with just under three minutes remaining all but put the Eagles away.

The game was about as tight as you could get leading up until the fourth quarter. Three pointers from Kaylie McCracken and Kaelan Shamseldin kept the Blues within one point at 14-13. The period ended on a Berglund layup to put UNW up five in what would be its best scoring period of the game. The second quarter saw the Blues constantly nipping at UNW's heels before regaining the lead at 28-27 on a Natalie Whitsel three pointer and a Stone layup with 3:20 to play until halftime.

The Blues could not provide any third quarter separation and even fell behind by as many as six points midway through the period. Whitman then got hot from beyond the arc as Burdett connected three times from distance in a span of less than two minutes to help her team carry a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Whitman returns to action after the turn of the new year, opening up the 2019 slate of Northwest Conference games at Lewis & Clark on Saturday, Jan. 5. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.