WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Makana Stone delivered a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, Mady Burdett added a game-high 15 points and the Whitman College women's basketball team grinded out a 60-51 win over the University of Puget Sound in the team's Northwest Conference opener on Friday night.

Kaylie McCracken had a near double double of her own (12 pts, 9 reb) for the Blues (9-1, 1-0 NWC) whose bench and tenacity proved to be the difference. Whitman held a 19-8 advantage on the offensive glass and saw 23 of their 60 points come from bench scoring.

Jamie Lange led the way for the Loggers (6-4, 0-1 NWC) with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Reann Allen added 10 points and four boards off the bench.

The game started off well for the Loggers. Lange connected on back-to-back jumpers to give her team an early 9-2 first quarter lead. Whitman responded quickly as Burdett hit from three to kickstart seven unanswered points for the Blues and tie up the score with 4:45 to play. The teams traded buckets for much of the remainder of the quarter and UPS ended the period up two.

The Blues took an early lead in the second quarter but it was a tight contest all the way to halftime. A Burdett three and an and-one three-point play from Stone gave the Blues the lead just over a minute into the period. Just over the midway point of the quarter, Burdett and Cassidy Daugherty exchanged three pointers as UPS held a 23-22 lead with 3:15 to play until the break. The two teams duked it out to a 28-28 halftime stalemate.

The battle continued into the third quarter. Stone hit on a jumper to put the Blues up four, but the Loggers responded with a 7-0 run capped by an Allen layup. Points were at a premium in the back half of the quarter as both teams found a lid on their baskets on many of their possessions. Katie Minnehan's late jumper extend UPS's lead to four points which they carried into the fourth quarter.

The Blues turned it on in the final 10 minutes with 22 fourth-quarter points. Shaira Young nailed back-to-back three pointers early in the period to give her team a five-point lead. Katie Stahl's layup with just over five minutes to play extended the lead to seven points and the Blues stayed the course and paced to the win.

Whitman is back in action on Saturday night for more Northwest Conference action at the Sherwood Center. Tipoff against Pacific Lutheran is set for 4:00 p.m.