TACOMA, Wash.  Familiar foes, who have seen each other more than either would like over the past 11 months, met again Saturday evening. And like the four times before, nationally ranked.

Whitman and Puget Sound. The No. 8 Blues at the No. 19 Loggers. Northwest Conference women's basketball at its grittiest.

Saturday's contest at Memorial Fieldhouse was as taut as expected, until a Mady Burdett explosion opened the fourth quarter and propelled Whitman to an 80-69 victory.

Whitman (6-1, 2-0 NWC) wins its sixth straight while ending a four-game Puget Sound (4-2, 1-1) win streak.

The Blues led by as many as 11 points during the second quarter but found themselves trailing, 44-43, midway through the third. They regained the lead -- the fourth and final lead change of the night -- on a short jumper from Emily Rommel.

Whitman finished off the third stanza with a tenuous five-point edge at 55-50. And that's when the game sidetracked into The Mady Burdett Showcase.

The sophomore long-range sniper popped a 3-pointer from the left wing to start the final quarter. She followed a UPS trey with her own from deep in the left corner, and was fouled long enough after the shot to give the ball right back to the Blues.

Uh-oh.

Burdett converted what most of the 500-plus fans in attendance knew was coming, by draining her third bomb in a row, raining one down from the right wing to elevate Whitman to its first double-digit lead, 64-53, since it last lead by 11…at the 6:44 mark of the second quarter.

The Loggers tried to chip away with a pair of layups sandwiched around a Makana Stone jumper, but another dagger flew from beyond the arc Whitman's next time down the floor as Lily Gustafson found the bottom of the net from the same right wing as Burdett's last.

Stone's jumper with two minutes remaining ballooned the advantage to 15, and the Blues road out the final possessions to finish off a satisfying 11-point win.

Casey Poe finished the night with a Whitman-high 18 points, getting help in the offensive half from Rommel's 16 points and Stone's 12. Burdett finished with nine points -- all from you-know-where and you-know-when -- while Maegen Martin chipped in with four but tied Poe for rebounding honors with six each.

Whitman and Puget Sound provided epic battles last season.

In both regular-season meetings the Loggers squeaked out a pair of overtime victories on their way to the league regular-season title.

Hosts of the NWC postseason tournament, UPS ended up squaring off against a visiting Blues squad in the tournament final. A different story than the first two bouts, Whitman captured the tournament title with a nine-point win, earning the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

It's reward? First and second round games at UPS for the regional bracket.

Meeting in the regional final the two went to the final buzzer. Trailing 69-66 the Loggers got off a desperation 3-pointer that was off target, only to gain a second chance for the win on a Whitman defensive foul on the buzzer-beating shot. Only the first of three free throws found the inside of the rim, sending Whitman into the Sweet 16.

The next time these two heavyweights meet? Friday, Jan. 26 in Walla Walla, Washington, on Whitman's home court.

A lot of basketball sits between Saturday's win and that game, beginning with the Blues' trip to Spokane, Wash., for the Holiday Classic presented by Red Lion River Inn on Friday and Saturday. Whitman plays Carroll College on the opening night of the Classic, then takes on Colorado College the next night.