Coupeville Sports

   Makana Stone, here with CHS running mate Sylvia Hurlburt, sparked Whitman to a fifth-straight win Friday night. (Photo courtesy Eileen Stone)

The Human Highlight Reel is back at it.

Throwing down a team-high 16 points and snatching seven boards Friday, Coupeville grad Makana Stone sparked the Whitman College women’s basketball team to its fifth consecutive win.

The Blues, playing the first game of back-to-back road contests in Tacoma, savaged Pacific Lutheran 72-44.

The win, coming in the team’s first conference game, lifts Whitman to 5-1 on the season.

Stone continued to be highly-efficient this season, dropping in 8-12 shots from the field in 23 minutes of action. She also added two assists and two steals.

Casey Poe knocked down 10 to back her, while Whitman got 30 points from its bench players.

Whitman jumped out to a 14-11 lead after one quarter, then steadily added to its lead, with a 24-11 run in the fourth the real killer.

If nothing else, PLU hit a rare achievement in the loss, scoring exactly the same amount of points (11) in every quarter.

The Blues, ranked #8 in D-III, return to the court Saturday to face their arch-rivals, #19 University of Puget Sound.

The schools split four games last season, with UPS winning two regular-season games in overtime. Whitman avenged those losses, however, winning twice in the playoff.

Six games into her sophomore campaign, Stone tops Whitman in points (88), rebounds (41), field goal percentage (66% on 35-53) and free throw percentage (86% on 18-21).