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McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Whitman College women’s basketball team could not recover from a cold third quarter resulting in a 61-52 loss at Linfield in Northwest Conference action on Friday night. The loss was Whitman’s first of the conference season.
Holly Morgan led three Blues in double figures with 12 points, and Emma Lena Baker and Jordan Leith both added 10 more.
Eve Burke led Linfield with a game-high 15 points.
Whitman (8-5, 3-1 NWC) opened sharply, shooting 43.8 percent in the first quarter and riding early buckets from Morgan and Baker to a 17-14 lead after 10 minutes. The defenses took over in the second, as the Blues were held to eight points but limited Linfield to 11, sending the teams into halftime tied 25-25.​
The game turned out of the locker room, where Linfield used pressure defense and transition chances to seize control. Whitman managed just two points in the third quarter while the Wildcats outscored the Blues by 15 points to build a 42-27 advantage heading to the fourth.​
Whitman responded with its best offensive frame of the night, pouring in 25 fourth-quarter points on 56.3 percent shooting from the floor and 75 percent from three. Leith came off the bench to spark the comeback bid but Whitman could not fully erase the deficit.​
The loss closes a busy opening week of conference action as the Blues won’t return to the court until Friday, Jan. 16 at Lewis & Clark.Â
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