Whtitman Edges Northwest U. in Tourney
WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Eagles battled one of the top teams in the Northwest Conference, Whitman College, but lost in a close game, 77-73, in the Kim Ebanger Raney Thanksgiving Tournament tonight.
NU fell behind 66-55 as Whitman's Hillary White buried a 3-pointer with 5:40 to go in the second half but the Eagles would answer as Carleigh Newman would score on a lay-up to make it 66-57. Erika Hornyak's trey would pull the Eagles to within six points, 66-60 and Jessalyn Jackson's 2-pointer would cut the Whitman lead to four at 66-62. Whitman's Hillary White would increase the Missionaries lead to six, 68-62 with 3:30 remaining in the game. With Whitman leading 71-66, NU's Carleigh Newman was fouled on an offensive rebound and put back with 1:35 left to pull NU to within 3 points but Newman would not convert the free throw. Whitman would up their lead to 75-70 with 17.9 seconds remaining, but Rachel Mitchell would drop a 3-point shot to make the score 75-73, but the Eagles would not be able to get any closer as time would run out.
Northwest U. (2-4) was led by senior guard Rachel Mitchell who scored 21 points on the night. Freshman Jessalyn Jackson scored 13 points and teammate Colleen Woods (Soph., Shoreline, Wash.) contributed 11 points for the Eagles.
Whitman, an NCAA Division III school and one of the favorites to win the Northwest Conference this season, was led by Hillary White's 25 points.
"Whitman's the best team we've played all year," commented head coach Lori Napier. "It was great to see the girls compete so hard."
The Eagles continue play in the tournament tomorrow afternoon when they take on Lewis-Clark State College from Lewiston, Idaho at 4 p.m. The game will be carried live on the NU Athletics web site in cooperation with Pacific Northwest Broadcasting. Chuck DeBruin will be doing the play-by-play for the game.