McMINNVILLE, Ore. – A one-two punch of Heather Johns and Chelsi Brewer pushed Whitman College past host Linfield College, 66-54, in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Wildcats' Ted Wilson Gymnasium Friday evening. Johns scored a game-high 24 points while Brewer added 19 including four long-range buckets from beyond the arc.

The victory is the third in a row for Whitman (14-7, 9-3 NWC) while the Wildcats (9-11, 3-8) drop their second in a row. Friday's victory also completes the season sweep for the Missionaries who downed Linfield by 24 points in mid-January.

Friday's contest was full of fits and bursts for both teams. Whitman reeled off the first six points of the game only to have Linfield storm back with the next six. The pattern continued with the M's scoring six unanswered points again to pull out to a 12-6 advantage.

The Missionaries clung to their lead until Linfield's Hannah Depew converted a free throw after being fouled on a successful jumper to move her team in front, 21-20.

Two possessions later Hailey Ann Maeda ripped down a rebound of a teammate's miss and kicked the ball out to Johns on the perimeter where she drained a 3-pointer for a 25-23 advantage. Linfield responded with its own trey but the M's regained the edge, 27-26, on a pair of Brewer free throws shortly before the halftime break. Whitman maintained its tenuous lead into that break, ahead by a count of 29-28.

The one-point lead grew only slightly over the early minutes of the second half but Brewer saw to it that her team gained some breathing room knocking down a pair of threes, followed by teammate Casey Poe's trey that kicked off a string of nine unanswered points to provide the M's with a 51-37 lead.

Linfield wouldn't go away quietly on its home court, battling back to within six, 53-47, but another Brewer bomb upped the cushion to nine with 6:34 to play. The ballooned to as many as 16 late before the M's settled for their 12-point victory.

In addition to notching the game-high in points Johns shared game-best honors on the glass with Poe as each pulled down seven rebounds. Poe's six points came via a 2-for-2 night from behind the arc.

Depew's 17 points lead Linfield in its effort during the loss. Amantha Hood chipped in with 10 points to also reach double figures.

Whitman puts its win streak on the line Friday, the 13th, at home on the George Ball Court, against visiting Pacific (Ore.) University. The home finale follows Saturday with a visit from No. 4 George Fox University.