WALLA WALLA, Wash. -
Korin Baker delivered a double double with game-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds,
Elena McHargue chipped in 20 points and eight boards and the Whitman College women's basketball team handed No. 17 Puget Sound its first league loss with a 61-50 win in a battle of Northwest Conference heavyweights on Friday night at the Sherwood Center.
The game pitted the league's top two teams and a nationally-ranked Logger squad who entered with an undefeated conference record. The win was a welcomed one for the Blues (11-6, 7-2 NWC) who atoned for their loss to UPS in the second game of the NWC season. Whitman needed to overcome 22 turnovers and did so by forcing the Loggers into a 26% shooting night and 15 turnovers of their own.
Sophie Nilsson led the way for the Loggers (15-3, 8-1 NWC) with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Katie Minnehan added nine points and six rebounds.
The game was tight from the get-go with action back and forth right from the opening tip. Baker had it going early, hitting on her first three jumpers and scoring Whitman's first seven points. After Samantha Swartout's missed three pointer, McHargue led a fast break and found Lindsay Drango for an easy layup to put the Blues up 9-6. The Loggers later took a one-point lead, but Whitman ran off seven unanswered points in the final three-plus minutes and led 20-14 by quarter's end.
The second 10 minutes saw the intensity pick up as baskets for both teams were at a premium. The teams combined for less than 20 points in the period but it were still the Blues that took a 27-24 lead into halftime. Drango's bucket had put Whitman up by eight points early in the quarter, but three pointers from Grace Pytynia-Hillier and Rebekah Desalla kept the Loggers in the game heading to the break.
The offensive woes continued into the third quarter before both teams heated up in the final three minutes. Katie Minnehan's layup cut the Whitman lead to one point, but Baker answered with a layup and McHargue drained a three pointer, her second of the quarter, as the Blues extended the lead to six points. Baker nearly got a three pointer to go at the buzzer but the Blues still carried their six-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The final quarter saw the Blues keep up with their defensive intensity and slowly pull away. Nilsson opened the quarter with a three pointer for the Loggers but McHargue answered right back with a triple of her own on the next possession. The fourth quarter offense (and defense) came alive for the Blues who held the Loggers scoreless for the next 7:51 while running off nine unanswered points. Whitman was solid at the charity stripe down the stretch and paced to the win.
The Blues close out the weekend with a Saturday contest against Pacific Lutheran. Tipoff at the Sherwood Center is set for 4:00 p.m.
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