McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Despite a career-high 21 points by Kory Oleson, the Linfield Wildcats came up short, 69-62, against the Northwest Conference-leading Whitman Blues on Friday night at Ted Wilson Gym.
 
Linfield leaders
Oleson scored the first eight points for the Wildcats, keeping the hosts within striking distance early on. In addition to her 21 points, Oleson added a team-high seven rebounds. Paige Graham scored 12 points and corralled two rebounds. Genna Hughes provided a spark off the bench, scoring six points and three rebounds. Bailey McDevitt also created offensively with seven points and six rebounds off the bench. Linfield finished the game with 15 bench points as a team.
 
Blues by the numbers
Makana Stone paced the Blues, scoring 18 points. Emily Rommel scored 10 and added a game-high nine rebounds. Meagen Martin added another 10 points and five boards. Poe, the NWC's leading scorer, led the Blues with seven points in the first half. Early foul trouble led to her playing just seven minutes through the opening 20-minutes. Poe finished the game with a 17 points on 3 of 10 shooting but a perfect 10 of 10 from the free-throw line.
 
NWC implications
The loss drops the Wildcats to 3-4 in the NWC and 7-9 overall. Linfield sits one game back of Lewis & Clark for fourth place at the midway point of the season. Whitman, ranked No. 6 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, keeping its NWC record spotless at 7-0 while moving to 15-1 overall.
 
How it played out
A slow start for both teams left the score 16-10 after the first 10 minutes. Linfield got its offensive boost from Oleson while Jade Everage commanded attention on the defensive end. Linfield maintained the in single digits in the first half, trailing, 33-25 at the intermission.
 
Whitman built its lead to as many as 13 points in the third quarter but Linfield rallied to cut the lead to single digits. Five quick team fouls on Whitman gave Linfield opportunities from the free-throw line in the third quarter. Erin Burns and Hughes helped trim the differential to five points, 47-42, part of a 12-4 run to close out the third quarter.
 
With under eight minutes to play, Whitman stretched its lead back to eight. Graham and the Wildcats answered with gritty defense and a slower pace of play. Down four, 53-49, with less than five minutes to go, Oleson drilled a three-pointer that brought the Wildcats to within one. With under a minute left to play, Graham's three trimmed at the lead again, 65-62. In the end, bonus free throws by Casey Poe helped the Blues close out the game.
 
Next
Linfield remains at home for its next two contests. Saturday, the 'Cats host the Whitworth Pirates at 4 p.m. The following Friday, the Pacific Boxers invade Ted Wilson Gym at 6 o'clock.