WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Saturday's Northwest Conference women's basketball game at the Sherwood Athletic Center between visiting Pacific Lutheran University and 21st-ranked Whitman College produced five ties and one lead change -- all in the first eight minutes. From that point forward the Missionaries were simply too much for the Lutes, growing their lead during each successive quarter until the final 76-53 advantage lit up the scoreboard.

The 76 points were the most from Whitman (13-3, 6-2 NWC) in its last 11 games, since an early-December victory. Saturday's loss drops PLU to 6-11 overall and 2-6 within the league.

Even Saturday's listing of tie scores and the lone lead change were misleading. Pacific Lutheran scored the first four points of the contest but a pair of jumpers from Alysse Ketner erased the deficit. Twice more PLU would break the tie and forge ahead by a basket but each time Whitman would calmly answer its next time down the court.

There would be two more ties before the game saw its pivot point, with a pair of first-year Whitties -- Maegen Martin and Caitlin Mazzoleni -- providing the decisive spark.

Sophomore Casey Poe had broken the final tie, at 12-12, with a jumper with just under two minutes left in the opening quarter. The Lutes missed their next shot as Martin ripped down the defensive rebound and launched the outlet pass for the transition game. It was Mazzoleni who pumped in a 3-pointer at the other end to push the lead to five and effectively put a capper on the contest.

Though five times within the next nine minutes PLU would draw within four, the Whitman's momentum never faltered as it out scored the Lutes by four in the second quarter, by 13 in the third and by two in the final 10-minute frame.

The Missionaries actually lost the rebounding battle with the Lutes, 32-30, but that statistic is also misleading as Whitman enjoyed a 58 percent night of shooting from the floor and didn't need the offensive rebounds. It came away with 23 defensive rebounds to limit PLU to only five second-chance points on the night.

Whitman's defensive pressure forced 25 Lutes turnovers, creating 20 points off turnovers and 18 fast-break points for the Whitties.

Ketner knocked down a game-high 17 points with Poe adding 15 and Mazzoleni putting up a career-best 14 which included a pair of treys. Ionna Price, with 11 points, and Madis Green-Hayward, with 10, were the PLU offensive leaders in the loss.

Sierra McGarity splashed stats across the scorebook page for Whitman, scoring four points, coming down with a game-best six rebounds, dealing four assists, and defensively adding a game-high three steals along with one block.

Friday and Saturday begin the second half of the conference slate as the Whitties travel this time to take on Lewis & Clark College and Linfield College, respectively. The league schedule for Whitman began with those two opponents as the host Whitties downed each for a 2-0 start in league play back in December.