Women’s Basketball Holds On To Beat Bushnell

EUGENE, Ore. – Behind a pair of career performances, the Whitman College women’s basketball snapped its brief skid in style, rolling past Bushnell University 66-55 on Tuesday night at the Morse Center.

Whitman jumped to 3-2 on the season by building a double-digit lead in the first half and never letting Bushnell get closer than nine in the final minutes. The Blues led 21-12 after the first quarter and pushed the margin to as many as 21 midway through the third, answering every late Beacons surge with timely buckets and free throws.​

Holly Morgan orchestrated the offense with a career night, pouring in 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting while dishing out a game-high seven assists. Morgan was especially dangerous from the perimeter, knocking down all three of her three-point attempts and adding seven rebounds and three steals in 30 composed minutes.​

Briana Andrade, who chipped in a career-best 15 points, attacked the paint all night, going 6-for-14 from the field and 7-for-10 at the foul line while adding four rebounds and consistently halting Bushnell’s momentum with drives and late-game finishes.​

Whitman’s depth again showed with 18 bench points, led by Emma Lena Baker’s efficient six points and six rebounds and Jordan Leith’s seven-point spark, including a key three in the third quarter. The Blues shot 46.3 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three, using crisp ball movement for 15 assists and turning 21 Bushnell turnovers into 26 points the other way.​

Defensively, Whitman held Bushnell to 32.8 percent shooting and just 11 points in the third quarter, a stretch that allowed the Blues to create the separation they needed. Although Ayden Krupke’s 16 points and a late Beacons run trimmed the margin to single digits in the final minute, Morgan and Andrade calmly closed the door at the line to secure Whitman’s return to its winning ways.

After a brief Thanksgiving break, the Blues head to Colorado for the Colorado College Thanksgiving Classic. Whitman will play the College of Saint Benedict on Saturday, Nov. 29 and Colorado College the next day.

#GoWhitman

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