PARKLAND, Wash. - It took three overtime periods but Whitman College finally overcame pesky host Pacific Lutheran University, 97-90, Friday night in a Northwest Conference women's basketball battle at Names Family Court, extending a winning streak over the Lutes to 13 consecutive games.

The triple-overtime thriller had everything one would expect from such a game including a buzzer-beating half-court 3-pointer from the Lutes (9-15, 5-10 NWC) at the end of regulation, a game-tying layup from Casey Poe that allowed Whitman (17-6, 10-5) to extend the game into a second overtime, and a game-saving trey from Hailey McDonald that lifted the Missionaries into a tie at the end of the second extra period.

The contest was also not as topsy-turvy, though, as many overtime contests usually are. In 40 minutes of regulation there were five ties and just four lead changes. The initial five-minute overtime period alone saw a pair tie scores and three lead swings, but the second OT failed to see a single lead change and picked up its only tie score on Poe's late layup, and the final extra period experienced only one tie and one lead change as Whitman was able to break out to a five-point advantage that held up until Chelsi Brewer grew the margin at the end by making both free throws on consecutive trips to the foul line.

Whitman looked as if the night would be drama free, but PLU rallied late in the second quarter from a 26-16 deficit by closing out the quarter on a 13-0 run that extended to 16-0 with the opening basket of the third quarter.

A jumper from Sierra McGarity broke the drought for Whitman and kicked off a 13-2 run that pushed the Whitties back in front. By the end of the frame the game would have seen its most back-and-forth 10-minute span, finishing with Whitman clinging to a 47-46 lead.

After opening up a six-point lead with the fourth quarter's first baskets Whitman again looked like it would squelch any drama from arising...all the way until one of the most dramatic shots of the season with the supposedly-final buzzer sounding while the ball was in the air. A six-point lead with 37 seconds remaining looked safe but a Sarah Barnes 3-pointer after a Whittie turnover cut that lead in half. But with 17 ticks left on the clock, and Whitman with possession, the outcome looked shaky but still in hand. The expected PLU foul came, and worked for the Lutes as neither free throw found the bottom of the netting.

With a foul to give and leading by three Whitman did the expected and fouled quickly on PLU's insertion play, perhaps too quickly though. Hardly any time had elapsed from the game clock as the Lutes lined up for a second throw-in. Once again the expected foul came quickly, effectively eliminating a desperation 3-pointer which if fouled would send a PLU player to the line for three instead of just two charity tosses.

Kristin Sturdivan dropped in both of her free throws to pull PLU to within a point, 66-65, with 11.6 seconds left. And this time the expected foul was on PLU, sending Poe to the line with 5.6 seconds left. Poe calmly sank both shots, and things looked good for Whitman as PLU was out of time outs so were forced to bring the ball in from underneath its own basket. The Lutes' Megan Abdo even fumbled the ball when she received the in-bounds pass but that may have helped as everyone racing up court actually sped past the slowed Abdo who found space to heave a prayer from the half-court line where she watched the ball arc through the air as the buzzer sounded, then leapt into her teammates arms as the shot found nothing but the bottom of the net to tie the game for the only time in the fourth quarter.

Similar to the third quarter, the opening overtime period found several lead changes and ties before PLU would take a three-point advantage, 74-71, with 2:27 remaining. Fourty-some seconds later Alysse Ketner would hit the second of a pair of free throw opportunities that trimmed Whitman's deficit to two with still more than 100 seconds to play. Four missed shots and a turnover later the game had ticked down to less than six seconds to play but a drive from Brewer from the left drew the defense across the key and allowed her sharp bounce pass across the key to find Poe for a tying layup with 5.3 seconds left.

Dramatically, a Whitman foul with 2.9 seconds sent Abdo to the line with a chance to win it but the regulation-time hero wasn't as fortunate from in close as she missed both attempts to end the first overtime.

The Lutes scored first then held a lead throughout almost the entirety of the second OT, until McDonald dropped in a 3-pointer around the minute mark to tie the score at 80-80, where the period finished.

Once again the now-tired teams -- a combined four starters from the teams fouled out during the contest -- headed back onto the court, but this time the momentum would tilt clearly in Whitman's favor. Ionna Price scored first for PLU but the Whitties reeled off a 7-0 stretch, capped by Brewer's only 3-pointer of the night, for a five-point lead that eventually iced by Brewer's deft touch at the free-throw line.

Brewer, who finished with 17 points, was quick to credit her teammates for her own successes over the course of the night. "We came out with a good start to the game offensively, with our defense fueling our offense," said Brewer. "By the end it was my teammates and coaches who kept believing in me which pumped me up at the end for the 3 and the foul shots. And playing with four fouls myself, they were supportive of me to play smart but have confidence."

Poe finished with a game-high 23 points and was also one of the players who stepped up when teammates Ketner, McDonald and McGarity fouled out. "That situation forced me to change my mind set, forcing me to step up in both ends of the court," the sophomore explained. "(McDonald) and (McGarity) are two of our best defenders and I knew that I'd need to help pull the players together to play even harder. With (Ketner) fouling out I knew I had to step in and take on some of the offensive-end responsibility since she's our other point guard. She really attacks offensively so I did what she would do.

"We won this game by fighting through as a team, though. I know, for me, though, when Hailey (McDonald) fouled out it made me want to help us pull out the win even more because she's a senior and one of our captains and I didn't want her to lose a game in which she'd played so hard from the opening tip."

Head coach Michelle Ferenz was proud of her team on a night that included so much adversity. "We definitely had a lot of reasons to give in, especially with that fourth-quarter ending and start to the first overtime," Ferenz said. "It was great to see so many different players respond to that, though, especially some of our younger players."

Along with Poe and Brewer reaching double digits in scoring, Ketner finished with 19 and Hailey Ann Maeda added a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Friday's victory, included with other results within the conference, locks Whitman into the No. 3 seed spot for the postseason conference tournament where it will face second seed University of Puget Sound -- Saturday's host and opponent in the regular-season finale -- next Thursday on the Loggers' home court.