PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College women's basketball put together one of their most-complete performances of the season, to snap a 15-game losing streak against Whitman College with a 68-59 victory. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 68, Whitman 59
(Lewis & Clark 5-9, Northwest Conference 2-3) 
(Whitman 8-6, NWC 3-2) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The River Otters pounced on their reigning Northwest Conference Champions early and never allowed Whitman to lead by more than two points. With the win, Lewis & Clark knocked off the Blues for the first time since January 21, 2017. 
 
First year Hailey Perez knocked down three 3-pointers en-route to a game-high 16 points. The first year was one of four Lewis & Clark players to finish in double-figures. Perez went 5-8 from the field, 3-5 from distance and added three rebounds and a steal. 
 
Fellow first year Lilly Jordan added three 3-pointers of her own to finish with 15 points. Sophomore Kaitlen Carns and junior Lauryn Frederickson joined the two first years in double-figures. Carns chipped in 13 points and a game-high six assists. She finished 4-8 from the field and hit five of her six free throw attempts. Frederickson added a double-figure of 10 points and 13 rebounds (all on the defensive end). 
 
Junior Divinity Singleton played a key role in the contest. She posted six points and six rebounds in 23 minutes of action. 
 
Lewis & Clark jumped all over the Blues early in the contest. The Otts scored the first four points of the game and grabbed a 17-6 lead six minutes into the first quarter. Perez knocked down three 3-pointers and 11 total points during the span. She finished off the 17-6 run by hitting back-to-back treys to stretch the lead to double-digits. Singleton, Frederickson and Carns all added baskets as Lewis & Clark hit eight of their first 10 shots. 
 
Whitman would cut the deficit to five points on two occasions and trailed by six (22-16) after the opening stanza. 
 
The Blues would grab a pair of one-point leads late in the first half but Fredrickson earned a pair of free throws with under a second to go in the quarter. She knotted the game at 36 going to the break.
 
After being outscored 20-14 in the second quarter, Lewis & Clark edged the Whitman 12-10 in the third quarter. Lewis & Clark used a 6-0 run early in the quarter to turn a one-point deficit into a 42-37 lead. Singleton, Perez and Jordan each chipped in two points to give Lewis & Clark their first two-possession lead since early in the second quarter. 
 
Whitman retook the lead on a Briana Andrade jumper but Jordan canned a three-pointer to grab the lead right back (45-43). After the Blues regained the lead a second time, junior Isabella Bernard drained a 3-pointer of her own to make it 48-46 after three quarters. 
 
The visitors would grab their biggest and final lead of the game to start the fourth. Whitman scored on each of their first two possessions to make it 50-48 with 8:35 to play. 
 
On the next possession, Bernard grabbed a key offensive rebound and Jordan drained a 3-pointer to give Lewis & Clark the lead for good (51-50). The three-pointer would key a 9-0 run. Carns added a pair of layups and Frederickson hit two free throws to stretch the lead to 57-50 with 6:14 to go. 
 
Every time the Blues would score the River Otters had an answer. Jordan added another deep 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to eight. With the hosts leading 60-54 with 5:16 to play, Lewis & Clark put together another 5-0 spurt thanks to lockdown defense. Fredrickson hit a jumper with 2:06 to play and Perez (two) and Jordan added free throws to stretch the lead to 65-54 with 41 seconds left. Whitman finally broke their 4:59 scoring drought with a layup but it was too little too late in a 68-59 setback. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark shot 40 percent (20-50) from the field and hit 38.1 percent (8-21) of their 3-point attempts. They also went 20-26 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line. The team's 3-point shooting percentage was a season-best and they also posted top-five marks on the year from the field and for total free throws made. On the flip side, Whitman was held to just 3-15 (20 percent) shooting on 3-pointers. 
• Perez tied her career-high with 16 points. She also finished with 16 against Northwest University (WA) on November 16. 
• Carns' six assists were a season and career-high. She posted six of the team's 11 assists in the contest. 
• Fredrickson tied her season-high with 13 rebounds. She pulled down 13 boards against Pacific Lutheran University on January 3. 
• Bernard posted three points, one rebound and one block in three pivotal minutes off the bench in the second half. 
• After posting zero rebounds last Saturday at Pacific, Singleton has pulled down 11 rebounds in two games this week. Her six rebounds against Whitman was her second-most of the season.
• Jordan's 15 points were one off her career-high. She posted 16 points against the University of Puget Sound to open conference play.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will look for their first conference weekend sweep of the season on Saturday. The River Otters will host Whitworth University at 3 p.m.