Whitworth Women Eliminated In Semifinals

The Willamette Bearcats scored seven straight points midway through the second half and went on to defeat Whitworth 59-49 in a Northwest Conference postseason tournament semifinal game Wednesday night.

Top-seeded Willamette (19-6) will host No. 2-seed Pacific at 7 p.m. Saturday to determine the automatic berth to the NAIA Division II National tournament. Pacific defeated No. 3-seed George Fox at Forest Grove, Ore., 68-51, on Wednesday.

The national tournament will be held March 6-12 at Tri-State University at Angola, Ind.

Against Whitworth, the Bearcats never trailed after a 2-2 tie. However, they never pulled away from Whitworth until late.

Whitworth cut Willamette’s lead to 43-37 with 10:21 to play on a pair of free throws by Jennifer Tissue. However, the Bearcats reeled off seven straight for a 50-37 lead.

Tissue scored 16 points to share team scoring honors with Rebecca Moore. Whitworth’s Sherri Northington also added 10 points.

The Pirates finish their season at 8-17.

Willamette’s Jenny Joseph led the Bearcats with 16 points.

Willamette 59, Whitworth 49

Whitworth - Tissue 4-16 7-8 16, Northington 3-11 4-6 10, Elliot 1-5 0-0 2, Moore 5-18 2-2 16, Davis 1-5 0-0 3, Sherer 0-5, 0-2 0, Peterson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 14-61 15-20 49.

Willamette - McShane 2-8 0-1 4, Ulrey 3-6 0-0 7, Joseph 8-14 0-0 16, Salazar 0-4 2-4 2, Shepard 6-13 2-2 14, Charriere 4-5 1-2 10, Weber 2-5 0-0 4, Waliezer 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-57 5-9 59.

Halftime score-Willamette 31, Whitworth 22. 3-pointers- Whitworth 6-17 (Tissue 1-3, Moore 4-10, Davis 1-3, Sherer 0-1), Willamette 2-7 (McShane 0-1, Ulrey 1-4, Charriere 1-2). Total fouls - Whitworth 16, Willamette 14. Fouled out-Northington. Technical fouls-None. Rebounds-Whitworth 35 (Northington, Elliot 8 each), Willamette 49 (McShane 15). Assists- Whitworth 9 (several with 2), Willamette 13 (Shepard 4).