Pirates come up short of Sweet 16
Nemesis Whitman sends Whits home
WALLA WALLA – Kayla Johnson scored a game-high 21 points, but Whitworth was unable to overcome a 17-point, second-half deficit during second-round action in the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament on Whitman College’s George Ball Court at Sherwood Center.
The host Missionaries got 17 points from Tiffani Traver and 15 apiece from Sarah Anderegg and Northwest Conference Player of the Year Heather Johns in a 73-67 victory that will send Whitman, now 28-1 on the season, to the Sweet 16.
While Whitman’s next opponent and venue will be announced Monday, the Pirates had their season come to a close with a mark of 21-8.
Saturday’s game was the fourth meeting of the year between the two NWC rivals. Whitman prevailed in two regular-season meetings.
Whitworth was victorious in the conference tournament’s championship game one week ago.
“Everybody knows it’s two high-caliber teams,” Whitworth coach Helen Higgs said.
“It was like a boxing match – where the teams are going toe-to-toe and nobody’s going to back down.”
Whitworth trailed by 13 at halftime, 38-25, and fell behind by 18, 43-25, at the 19:10 mark of the second half on a 3-pointer by Johns.
The Pirates responded with a 21-7 blitz over a stretch of 8 minutes, 51 seconds to pull within four, 50-46.
Johnson led the charge with eight points, including two 3-pointers and Alexis McLeod ended the spurt with a driving layin with 10 minutes remaining.
Whitman regained the momentum with a 9-2 surge and led by 11, 59-48, with 7:06 left. Over the next six-and-a-half minutes, Whitworth made one final charge that Johnson brought to an end on a free throw with 33.7 seconds to go that cut the deficit to two, 69-67.
“I never doubted and our team never doubted that we had a chance to win the game,” Higgs said.
But in the end, the Missionaries salted the contest away with two successful free throws by Johns and a Traver layin in the final 25.1 seconds.
Still, Higgs held her head high afterward.
“Our goal is to make every year an historic year,” Higgs said. “There are a lot of things we can hold on to down the road.”