Makana Stone is off to a 4-0 start during her senior season at Whitman. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The spotlight found its star.
Saturday night in California, two undefeated women’s basketball teams went down to the wire, but the squad with the Coupeville connection came out on top.
Throwing down 19 of her 21 points in the second half, Makana Stone gave Whitman College a fighting chance against their host, the University of Redlands.
Then, with the Blues clinging to a one-point lead, the former Wolf slammed the door shut, springing forward and rejecting what could have been a game-winning shot with just five ticks left on the clock.
Elevating at the exact right moment, Stone slapped away Redlands bid for a win, then corralled the loose ball, even as she was roughly knocked to the floor.
Tack on two ensuing free throws from fellow Whitman senior Mady Burdett, and the Blues headed to the door with a hard-fought 79-76 win.
The non-conference victory, coming in night one of a two-game trip to Cali, lifts Whitman to a pristine 4-0 on the season.
The Blues play at Whittier College Monday, then head to Texas for two games, as they play their first seven games away from home.
Whitman’s home opener in Walla Walla isn’t until Dec. 13.
Both teams entered play Saturday sporting identical 3-0 marks, and the game was a beautiful battle.
With Burdett trading three-balls with Redlands gunner Alyssa Downs — the duo finished with 26 and 31 points respectively, while netting seven treys apiece — the squads vied for control of a wild game.
Up 22-17 after one quarter, Whitman found itself trailing 42-37 at the half after Redlands momentarily took control.
That was when the Blues handed the ball to Stone, and let the one-woman wrecking crew go to work.
Pounding the ball inside, Coupeville’s progeny couldn’t be controlled in the second half, racking up nine points in the third quarter, then going for another 10 down the stretch.
With the game knotted at 64-64 headed into the fourth, Stone knocked down the first three points of the final frame, before Redlands surged back to take a 71-70 lead.
Cue Stone running wild through the paint, with three layups and a free throw on the offensive side of the ball and a big block on the defensive side, as Whitman turned the deficit into a 77-71 lead.
Things weren’t going to be that easy, however, as Redlands swished a three-ball, then rattled home two free throws, off a fairly bad call, to get back within 77-76.
Both charity shots bent the laws of physics, popping up, rolling around, then somehow crawling back into the net at the very last second.
With Whitman unable to get the ball inside to its red-hot second-half hero in the final moments, the Blues missed a layup, then a three-ball off of an offensive rebound, giving Redlands its final shot.
Not that the Bulldogs had a realistic shot, as Stone sprang on the shot like a jaguar, sending shock waves all the way back home to Whidbey.
The Coupeville grad finished with nine rebounds, three blocks, and two assists, to go with her 21 points, which she racked up by hitting 9-15 from the field and 3-4 at the line.
On the season, Stone has piled up 70 points, 26 rebounds, six steals, five blocks, and three assists, while shooting 27-47 (57.4%) and 16-20 (80%).
Heading into Monday’s game, she sits with 998 career points, a basket shy of becoming just the ninth woman in Whitman history to top 1,000.
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