CHS grad Makana Stone netted 19 points Saturday as Whitman stormed back from 16 down to beat George Fox. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
From heartbroken to heartbreakers.
A night after blowing a 19-point lead, the Whitman College women’s basketball team rallied from 16 down Saturday to pull out a stunning come-from-behind win on the road in Oregon.
Sparked by the wham-bam twins, Mady Burdett and Coupeville’s Makana Stone, the Blues thrashed George Fox University in the fourth quarter, claiming a 62-54 win.
The victory gives Whitman a weekend split, after a one-point loss at Pacific University Friday, lifting it to 5-1 in Northwest Conference play, 13-2 overall.
The Blues are a game back of Pacific (6-0, 12-3) and a game up on Linfield (4-2, 10-5) and Willamette (4-2, 10-5) with 10 games left to play in the regular season.
If George Fox (3-3, 11-4) had held on for the win, there would have been a four-team logjam for second-place.
Instead, thanks to their splendid seniors, who both left the game with third quarter injuries, only to return stronger than ever, the Blues return to Walla Walla riding a high note.
It didn’t look like it would go that way for much of the game Saturday, as George Fox came out blazing from behind the three-point arc and built a 23-13 lead after one quarter.
Things looked even worse when the Bruins stretched the margin out to 29-13 early in the second frame.
But, you live by the three-ball, you can die by the three-ball, and Whitman can sink treys with just about anyone.
The Blues got back in the game with a 12-0 run, with Burdett raining down back-to-back bombs, followed by a rainbow off the fingertips of Kaelan Shamseldin.
Stone picked up assists on treys #2 and #3, drawing the defense to her side of the floor, then kicking the ball cross-court to open teammates.
And, just to make sure everyone knows her game is well-rounded, the former CHS star then knocked down a three-ball of her own the next time down the floor.
Back within 36-31 at the half, things were looking up for Whitman.
Then came the third quarter, a frame in which the entire season seemed to totter on the edge.
Stone went down first, landing awkwardly after snagging a rebound and crashing to the floor. Then, Burdett followed her to the bench after getting smacked, hard, on a drive to the hoop.
Without their primary scoring threats as options, the Blues struggled, watching a four-point deficit balloon back out to 10 by the end of the quarter.
If Blues fans had some hope, a large part of it came when Stone and Burdett both returned late in the frame, erasing any lingering doubts they might have suffered serious injury.
George Fox was still feeling pretty good, up 50-40 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, and seemingly in control of things.
Spoiler: it was not in control.
Stone lit the fuse in the fourth with an emphatic blocked shot, then drained a pair of free throws to kick off what would become a game-breaking 18-0 run.
Back-to-back treys from Burdett fired up the Blues, Stone rolled inside for a layup to tie the game, and then Whitman claimed its first lead of the night on a pair of free throws from Kaylie McCracken.
With the Blues playing a withering defense in the fourth, George Fox’s shooting touch went into the deep freeze, and never emerged.
Held scoreless for the first nine minutes and five seconds of a 10-minute final frame, the Bruins could only weep silently as Burdett and Shamseldin capped the run with two more three-balls.
From there, Whitman iced the win at the free throw line, then danced away having decided the game with a 22-4 note-perfect performance in the fourth.
Burdett rippled the nets for six treys while hitting on a game-high 22 points, while Stone collected 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 32 minutes of action.
On the season, Coupeville’s progeny has 233 points, 117 rebounds, 21 assists, 18 steals, and 15 blocks, while shooting 94-175 (53.7%) from the floor and 42-54 (77.7%) at the free throw line.
Stone also moved into 6th place on the Whitman women’s career scoring list Saturday, passing former teammate Casey Poe with a turnaround jumper in the first quarter.
With 1,161 points and counting, she’s 83 points away from claiming 5th.
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