FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Kaylie McCracken scored a season-high 26 points to help the No. 6 Whitman College women's basketball team fight off a pesky Pacific (Ore.) squad with a 60-52 win on Friday. The win keeps the Blues (19-1, 11-0 NWC) undefeated in the Northwest Conference and atop the league standings.

McCracken also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and Sydney Abbott chipped in a season-best 14 points for the Blues who knocked the Boxers to third in the conference standings. Largely due to McCracken's dominance in the post, the Blues were plus-14 in points in the paint and scored 10 of their 14 third-quarter points off Boxer turnovers.

Camy Aguinaldo led Pacific with 21 points and Rilee Price chipped in 11 more. Both helped the Boxers to a hot start to open the game, each hitting three pointers to give their team an 8-2 lead with just under four minutes to play. Whitman responded and closed the quarter with an 11-4 run capped by an Abbott three pointer.

The Blues extended the lead to as many as eight points in the second quarter. Abbott hit from the floor midway through the period to give Whitman a 24-16 lead, but the Blues would not hit a field goal for nearly the remainder of the quarter while Pacific slowly cut into the lead. McCracken's bucket at the buzzer sent the Blues into halftime up 29-24.

Pacific opened the third quarter scoring eight of the period's first 10 points to take its first lead since the opening quarter. Madison Dunlop capped the run with a layup and gave the Boxers a 32-31 lead with 7:40 to play. Dunlop scored again two minutes later to regain the advantage at 34-33, but that would be the last points Pacific scored in the period. Whitman put up eight unanswered to go up 43-34 heading to the fourth quarter.

Whitman never relinquished the lead in the final period but was also never able to pull away. Price converted an and-one three-point play to shave the deficit to 45-42 with just over five minutes remaining, but McCracken responded with her own and-one, hitting her free throw to push the lead back up to eight points. Whitman struggled at the line in the late stages, but were still able to hold on for the win.

The Blues are next at Linfield on Saturday, Feb. 5. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.