SPOKANE, Wash. – Ashlyn Peterson scored 24 points to lead Whitworth to a 69-59 win over visiting Lewis & Clark in a Northwest Conference women's basketball contest on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
Coming off of Friday's win over defending NWC champion Willamette, the Pirates improved to 6-7 overall and 3-1 in the NWC, the best conference start since the 2018-19 season. It was also during that season that the Bucs last swept a home weekend in the conference.
"It was super important for us to avoid a let down after last night's win and every time we play Lewis & Clark it is a scrappy game," said Whitworth head coach Kenny Love.
Lauryn Frederickson scored three early baskets and Lewis & Clark (2-10, 0-3 NWC) outscored Whitworth 20-14 in the first quarter after the Pioneers made 8-12 shots in the period. The Pirates were able to turn things around in the second quarter, thanks in large part to Peterson who scored 15 of her points by halftime. Whitworth outscored L&C 20-11 in the second period, making 8-18 shots and holding the visitors to 4-12. The Bucs led 35-31 at the break.
Whitworth continued to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Pioneers 17-11 to lead 52-41 heading to the final period. Keely Maves scored six in the period and Bri Talley added five. The Pirates took advantage of free throws, going 5-5 at the charity stripe.
Whitworth led 58-45 on a pair of free throws by Maves with seven minutes left, but went scoreless for the next three minutes, allowing L&C cut the margin to 58-49. Alex Goetz broke the scoring slump with a layup. The Pioneers continued to battle back, getting within 60-55 on a put back basket by Divinity Singleton with 1:40 to play. They would get no closer as Goetz drained a three from the corner with a minute to play to extend the lead back to 64-55.
"The biggest thing for us was staying steady on offense," Love said. "We kept at it and we were down 20-11 after the first instead of 20-6. We are getting to the point where we can use our depth as a weapon."
Peterson tied her season-high point total while adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Maves added 14 points. Mya Bair led the Bucs with seven rebounds and had four assists and three steals. All 11 Pirates in uniform played in the game and eight of them scored.
Frederickson tied Peterson for game-high honors with 24 points for L&C. Kaitlen Carns added 13 points off the bench.
Whitworth will hit the road to play at George Fox and Pacific (Ore.) next weekend, looking to build on the strong conference start.
"We need to keep doing the things that got us here," Love said. "We also need to understand that everything on the road will be tougher."