Northwest Gets By Whitman
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Whitman’s Jenele Peterson’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim as the Eagles held on for the 64-61 non-conference victory tonight in the NU Pavilion.
Whitman pulled away late in the first half as they took a 32-21 lead with 3:33 to go in the first half as Tiffani Traver scored on a layup, but Northwest U. wouldn’t go away as they would go on a 9-2 run to close out the half and trail by four, 34-30, at the break.
Mary Madden would score 30 seconds in to the second half to put Whitman up 36-30, but once again, Northwest would make another run, outscoring the Missionaries 10-2, to take a 40-38 lead capped off by Mari Gonzalez’s layup with 15:02 left on the clock. After two ties, Whitman would regain the lead on a Janele Peterson jumper, 45-43 and increase their lead to five points, 48-43, on a three point play by Heather Lovelace as she would score on a driving layup and convert the free throw after being fouled at the 11:59 mark. NU’s Ebany Herd would tie the game at 48-all and Carol Howard would put NU back into the lead with her drive and layup with 8:34 to go. The lead would change hands several times until Northwest would take the lead, 57-54, on two Herd free throws with the clock showing 2:29. Jessalyn Jackson would score in the paint for NU after a Whitman turnover to make it 59-54, but Mary Madden jumper would cut the lead to three, 59-56, with 1:47 to go. Jackson would give Northwest a 63-58 lead with 54 seconds on the clock, but Whitman’s Jennifer Keyes would make it a two point ball game with her 3-pointer with 45 ticks left on the clock. Jackson would miss a jumper in the paint with 16 seconds to go, but would redeem herself with a big block of Madden’s baseline jumper with 6 seconds to go. Emily Drivstuen would make one of two free throws and Meghan White would grab the rebound and outlet to a streaking Janele Peterson who would just miss the 40 foot three pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Northwest U.’s (2-4) Jessalyn Jackson (Vancouver, Wash.) led all scorers with a double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. She also finished with 5 blocks for the game. Ebany Herd (Steilacoom, Wash.) added 13 points, Carol Howard (Seattle, Wash.) dropped in 11 points and Mari Gonzalez (San Jose, Calif.) contributed 10 points for the Eagles who shot 42% for the game and 50% from the 3-point line (4-8).
Whitman (1-3) was led by Meghan White’s 10 points and 7 rebounds. Jennifer Keyes added 9 points while teammates Mary Madden and Tiffani Traver each scored 8 points. The Missionaries shot 37% from 2-point range and 27% (4-15) from beyond the 3-point line. Whitman edged NU 42-40 in the rebound battle.
“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we can beat good teams,” commented Lori Napier, NU head coach, “but today was a great step for the players to really believe it.”
Northwest U. will now travel to Bellingham for the 15th Annual Lynda Goodrich Classic at Western Washington University. NU will play St. Martin’s University on Friday, Nov. 25 and Western Washington on Sat., Nov. 26. Both games will be exhibitions for Northwest U.