PORTLAND, Ore. -- Miyah Leith banked in a 3-point shot with 12 seconds remaining to bring the Lewis & Clark Pioneers within a single possession of the visiting Wildcats, but Quincey Gibson's free throws ensured Linfield left the Pamplin Sports Center with a 59-54 defeat of the Pios on Tuesday night.

Lewis & Clark, which trailed by 11 at halftime and was never closer than six points prior to Leith's three, nearly completed a comeback that would have given the Pioneers their second Northwest Conference victory this season. If they had won, Lewis & Clark would have taken the season series from Linfield after beating the Wildcats 53-52 last month in McMinnville.

"We wanted to hit a three at the end, and I don't think Miyah was really expecting that one, but we weren't able to finish the game, which is too bad," said sophomore Rachel Cox, who had eight points after scoring a career-high 13 against George Fox last Saturday.

"We've struggled a lot in the third quarter this year, but this was one of our better third quarters. It's all about peaks and valleys, and I think we've been doing a better job the last couple of games," said Cox.

Down 30-19 at the half, Lewis & Clark outscored Linfield 20-17 in the third quarter. Ayisat Afolabi (pictured right) scored 11 of her 13 points in the quarter, going a perfect 3 of 3 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. With 13 rebounds, she finished with a double-double, her second of the year after having six last season.

Leith finished with a game-best 19 points on 8 of 20 shooting, a season-high for shots taken this year. She was 50 percent, 6 of 12, in the second half.

Genna Hughes led Linfield with 18 points followed by Hannah Depew's 10 points. Hughes also had 10 rebounds for her own double-double.

The Pios played with eight available players, as all four freshmen for the team were out because of injury. Sara Hogman and Alyx Crager, who are scoring 11.6 points per game combined in 44 minutes per game, were injured last weekend.

"We have a lot of talent and we're an athletic team," said Cox. "We just have to capitalize on all of that.

"It's just about running the floor and playing hard because when you're playing hard and fighting the whole time, it brings the team up and that really helps us when we're down at certain points in the game."

Tuesday's loss was the Pios' ninth by single digits this season.

The Pioneers host Pacific Lutheran on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the first of their final three games this season. The Lewis & Clark Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be raising money for Special Olympics Oregon as part of the NWC's Fundraiser of the Year competition.

Lewis & Clark lost the first meeting with PLU 56-49 last month.