WILMINGTON, Ohio – A spirited second-half rally from Whitman College's women's basketball team sent Sunday afternoon's non-conference outing against Eastern Mennonite (Va.) University into overtime, but the Missionaries' steam would run out in the extra period as the Royals pulled away for a 76-73 victory at the Damon's/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Wilmington College at Fred Raizk Arena.

Heather Johns' 22 points led Whitman (0-2) while Jess Rheinheimer paced Eastern Mennonite (1-1) with 22 as well. Johns earned all-tournament team honors with her play over the weekend.

The Royals led for most of the game Sunday, stretching out a 38-27 halftime lead into a 15-point spread with 13:23 to play in regulation. The Eastern Mennonite advantage hovered in double-digits for the next seven minutes until a Johns jumper trimmed it to just eight with 6:33 to go.,A layup from Shakeerah Sykes would push the Royals' edge back to 10 but that would be the last time the Whitman deficit would be that large.

Chelsi Brewer kicked off a 13-5 finish from Whitman that would eventually push both teams into overtime. Brewer's jumper brought the deficit back into single digits and Alysse Ketner trimmed it to seven by sinking the second of a pair of free throws. Sykes notched another layup to increase EMU's edge by two but Johns dropped in a layup then converted the and-1 after being fouled on her shot to pull Whitman to within six for the first time since the 5:20 mark of the first half.

Sykes was the go-to person again for the Royals with yet another layup but Johns sank the second of two from the foul line on the next possession, followed by a turnover from Rheinheimer and a Johns jumper from the wing to trim the EMU lead to just five with 1:16 remaining in the half.

Watching the clock after a timeout Whitman sent EMU to the free throw line and the strategy worked as the Royals made only the first of two from the line, with Johns coming away with the rebound on the miss. A Ketner jumper from in the paint cut the deficit to four as the clock ticked past the one-minute mark. Hailey McDonald drew a charging foul from Rheinheimer to give Whitman back the ball with 47 ticks remaining. McDonald was unable to sink either of her opportunities from the charity stripe but Hailey Ann Maeda ripped down the rebound on the second miss and got the ball to Johns who was fouled and sent to the line by the Royals' Alisa Brown.

Johns made the first but missed the second, however Eastern Mennonite couldn't control the rebound, knocking it out of bounds to hand possession back to Whitman with 34 seconds left.

Ketner drained a dramatic three-pointer with 21 seconds on the clock to pull Whitman even at 65-65. Both teams would commit a turnover on their one and only possessions before the horn to send the game into overtime.

Eastern Mennonite snatched the lead with a trey from Marla ZumFelde but a McDonald jumper would cut the Royals' lead to one in the first minute of the extra period. Each team missed shots on their next possessions until Ketner's layup at the 2:35 mark pushed Whitman ahead for the first time since leading 18-16 at the midway point of the first half.

An 8-4 run by EMU over the final two minutes of the overtime sank the hearts of the Missionaries who had battled back so valiantly.

Whitman was 25-of-50 (50 percent) from the floor in regulation -- with EMU matching those figures at 26-for-52 -- but was only 3-of-8 in overtime while the Royals hit 3-of-4 from the floor and were a perfect 2-for-2 from the foul line in extra time. The two teams, unsurprisingly, were dead even in rebounds with 33 apiece and finished the game scoring 36 points each from in close in the paint.

Along with Johns' 22 points, Ketner also reached double-digits adding 19 to the Missionaries' cause. Maeda was the team leader on the glass with seven rebounds while McDonald was a thief on defense, leading all players with seven steals.

Sykes contributed 20 points to Rheinheimer's 22 to pace Eastern Mennonite in its offensive end. Sykes led all rebounders in the contest with 12 to complete the double-double.

Whitman returns West for its next outing, welcoming the University of Rutgers-Newark to George Ball Court in the Sherwood Athletic Center for a Saturday, Nov. 22 non-conference game slated for a 1 p.m. tip-off.