McMINNVILLE, Ore. – An 11-goal run in the second half allowed Whitman College to break away from host Linfield College in Saturday afternoon's Northwest Conference women's lacrosse game which saw the visiting Missionaries pound out a 17-4 victory for their second win in the program's young history.

Bea Sheffer led all scorers with seven goals for Whitman (2-5, 2-5 NWC) but teammate Lucy Skugstad was also a major contributor around the cage as she finished with five against the Wildcats (0-15, 0-7).

The Missionaries came out of the halftime break with a 6-2 lead but Linfield cut that advantage by one with Halee Helgerson's 26th goal of the season, this one coming a little more than two minutes after the draw control that opened the second half.

The teams traded one shot and one goalie save apiece over the next two minutes before Whitman's Nina Henelsmith sparked the opening of the floodgates at the 25:28 mark with her fourth of the spring. Sheffer and Skugstad alternated finding the back of the Linfield net for the Missionaries' next six markers then Anna Melville got into the act with her sixth of the season. Sheffer added another with Melville answering the call with her seventh goal but Sheffer had the last laugh, beating Wildcats goalkeeper Erika Phillipo at the 3:53 mark for Sheffer's 28th this season and Whitman's 11th straight goal.

Rebecca Kropp finally ended the Whitman streak with a goal for the home team with 2:04 to play but the tally was too little, too late after Linfield was overwhelmed during the final 30 minutes of action.

For a squad that reeled off 11 second-half goals Whitman got off to a slow start, at least in the,scoring,department. It wasn't until their seventh shot of the game -- nearly eight minutes into the half, and while refusing Linfield even one shot -- that the Missionaries finally solved Phillipo as Skugstad got one by her to finally force a change on the scoreboard. The goal proved to be the game-winner as Sheffer's score three minutes later gave Whitman a 2-0 advantage and a lead that it wouldn't relinquish.

Linfield wasn't without scoring chances after its opening drought, but goalie Savannah McNichol put on another strong showing between the pipes for Whitman, coming up with eight saves against two goals allowed. As has been the plan all season McNichol gave way to Katie Whittingham to start the second half and Whittingham added three saves to her season total but did allow a goal on the first shot she faced.

Whitman piled up a 40-19 shots advantage and, per head coach Kate Robinson's preseason edict of 'win the draw control, win the game,' the team rang up a 20-3 edge in draw controls which nearly matched the final score.

The program's first season concludes Sunday at George Fox University with a 1 p.m. conference game against the host Bruins.