Loree Payne curled her lip. She sought answers, and was immediately headed to her office Friday night to find them on film.
What is suddenly plaguing the Puget Sound women’s basketball defense – a team trademark since the Loggers entered the NCAA Division III ranks in 1999?
In the final five minutes, Whitman staved off a late Loggers rally to earn a 76-68 victory at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma.
Suddenly, UPS (6-6, 2-1 in NWC) has lost four games in a row, and a rough stretch is looming – ending with a matchup at defending conference champion George Fox next weekend.
Payne seemed more bothered than panicked, and said she will give her team every opportunity to pull out of its funk.
“We need to flip the switch. I am waiting for them to flip the switch,” the second-year Loggers coach said. “If they are not going to do it, we are going to do it for them. We might have to mix up our lineup a little bit.”
When the Missionaries (4-7, 1-2) were getting quality looks, in stretches UPS settled for jump shots.
UPS grabbed a 36-35 lead on McKinnis’ three-point play to begin the second half, but Whitman responded with a 16-3 run to take a 51-38 lead with 13:20 to go.
Lindsay Layland completed a 15-3 UPS run by making one of two free throws to trim the deficit to 59-58 with 4:23 remaining.
That is as close as the Loggers got. Jennifer Keyes connected on back-to-back 3-pointers for Whitman, which closed by scoring on seven of its final eight trips.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
At UPS 68, Whitman 63: First place will be on the line tonight after the 16th-ranked Loggers (11-1, 3-0 in NWC) held off Whitman, and Whitworth won in double overtime at Pacific Lutheran.
In defeat, the Missionaries held to a really good game plan against UPS by slowing the game down with a zone defense, being very physical inside and getting lots of second-chance looks.
Kaleb Shelton-Johnson (nine of 15 points in final 12:58) and Rex Holmes (19 points) keyed the critical UPS response.
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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