Box Score

By David Brauhn

NEWBERG, OR. -- The Whitman College women's basketball team showed why they're the No. 4 team in the NCAA Division III, as they traveled to George Fox University and beat the unbeaten Bruins on their home court, 75-63, on Saturday, Jan. 18.
 
Coming into the game, each team was 5-0 in the Northwest Athletic Conference and 14-0 overall.
 
After the victory, Head Coach Michelle Ferenz said, "We knew it was going to be great game. It's fun to play these kinds of games – there are two great teams, a great atmosphere, and a great crowd. This team always rises to the occasion."
 
The Bruins matched the Lady Missionaries, score for score, throughout much of the game. But the difference proved to be the final six minutes of the game. The teams were tied 59-59, and then Whitman went on a 12-1 run. Meghan White led Whitman's attack, scoring eight of her 13 points during that stretch.
 
White also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. Heather Johns also pitched in a double-double, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Sarah Anderegg scored 20 points and had 7 rebounds.
 
Whitman trailed for much of the first half and went into the locker room down by one, with the score 36-37.
 
Early in the second half, Whitman was down by as many as seven points. After Ferenz called a timeout, Whitman took back control of the game, with Johns and Anderegg scoring four and six points respectively.
 
Ferenz said, "We really did a good job rebounding. The run started when we started to give ourselves second chance opportunities, and when they missed shots, we didn't' let them have those second chances."
 
Down the stretch, Whitman players hit their free throws and held onto the ball to put the game out of reach for George Fox.
 
"We took care of the basketball really well," Ferenz said. "They threw a lot of different defenses at us."
 
Whitman's next game will be against Whitworth College at home 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 21.