SALEM, Ore. – A dominating second half of action led visiting Whitman College to a 63-52 victory over host Willamette University in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Saturday at Cone Field House. Hailey Ann Maeda's double-double helped the 24th-ranked Whitties turn a five-point halftime deficit into an 11-point victory.

Whitman (12-2, 5-1 NWC) suffered only through a difficult second quarter, and out scored Willamette () 33-17 over the final 20 minutes of action.

A quick 6-0 start from the Whitties seemed to set the tone following the opening tip as the visiting team would run out to an 18-11 by the end of the first quarter. The table would turn in the second 10-minute stanza.

The Bearcats would double up Whitman, 24-12, in the second quarter and take a 35-30 lead into the halftime break behind 70 percent shooting from the floor and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line over the first two quarters.

Whitman came out of the break and immediately trimmed the deficit to two but a 3-pointer from Willamette's Kylie Towry would bump the Bearcats' lead back up to five. That trey less than two minutes into the third quarter wound up being Willamette's last hurrah.

A Casey Poe jumper followed, bringing Whitman to within three, and then Maeda would sink a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to just one.

Over the next six minutes play would hover right around that one-point Willamette lead, until a short jumper by Poe beat the buzzer ending the third quarter, providing Whitman with a lead it would expand throughout the final 10-minute quarter.

The Bearcats hung tight in that final frame but with three minutes remaining in the contest Whitman was able to reel off a 12-3 closing run to ensure a victory that keeps the Whitties in second place within the league standings.

Maeda's 12-point, 10-rebound night was her second double-double in the past three games. Seven of her 10 boards came under the offensive glass, helping Whitman register 16 second-chance points. Also reaching double figures in scoring for Whitman were Emily Rommel, with 12 points, and Alysse Ketner (11). Maeda and Ketner, who pulled own eight rebounds, pushed Whitman to the win on the glass, out rebounding Willamette 34-28.

The defensive pressure Whitman put on Willamette also made a big difference in the outcome. Led by four steals by Sierra McGarity, the Whitties defense came away with 12 steals and forced 21 Bearcats turnovers, flipping those chances into 21 points.

After a weekend on the road Whitman returns home to the confines of Sherwood Athletics Center for its next pair of league contests. Friday brings University of Puget Sound to Walla Walla, and Pacific Lutheran University comes to Sherwood for a Saturday afternoon affair.