Submitted by Fox First at Ten on December 9th
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's basketball team used a 44.1 percent three-point field goal percentage as the Pirates hit 15 three-pointers en route to a 72-59 win over Puget Sound in Northwest Conference action on Saturday evening in Whitworth Fieldhouse.
Whitworth improves to 7-1 overall, 2-0 in NWC action, while Puget Sound falls to 6-3, 0-2 in the NWC.
"We had another great team effort with seven players scoring 6 or more points," Whitworth head coach Helen Higgs said.
Puget Sound jumped out to an early 7-6 lead over Whitworth, but senior Lauren Picha made one of her six three-pointers to put the Pirates up by two. Freshman KC McConnell took advantage of a Logger turnover on the following possession by hitting a three-pointer of her own to give Whitworth a five point lead. Once in the lead, the Bucs continued to push, going up by as many as 16 points in the first half. At the break, Whitworth led 34-25.
The Loggers used back-to-back layups to cut Whitworth's lead to five after halftime, but senior Emily Guthrie and Picha hit back-to-back threes to push the Pirates ahead by double digits again. In addition to their 15 three-pointers, the Bucs turned 21 UPS turnovers into just as many points, and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. The Pirates also had 12 steals on the night, with Guthrie and McConnell each having a game-high three steals apiece."Three-pointers were key in the win as we outscored them by 18 from beyond the arc," Higgs said. "Offensive rebounding and forcing turnovers also created extra possessions for us which was huge in beating a very talented UPS team."
Picha finished the night 6-9 from beyond the arc for a season-high 18 points to lead Whitworth. Junior Jamie Lyons added 12 while junior Kayla Johnson came off the bench to chip in 10 for the Pirates. Junior Kendra Lahue and Emily Guthrie each grabbed seven boards to lead the Bucs in rebounding. KC McConnell had five rebounds for Whitworth. Emily Travis dished out four assists for the Bucs.
Kelsey McKinnis led the Loggers with 11 points. Sarah Stewart added 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds for UPS. Emily Sheldon had five rebounds for the Loggers, while Amanda Forshay had three assists and two steals.
Whitworth travels to La Grande, Ore. to take on Eastern Oregon at 5:00 pm on Sunday, December 8th.
