WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Mary Madden's three-point basket from the left corner with 58 seconds left in overtime broke a 44-44 tie and led to a 49-46 victory for the Whitman College Missionaries over the visiting George Fox University Bruin in a key Northwest Conference women's basketball matchup Friday night here at the Sherwood Center.

With the loss, George Fox, which is ranked 18th in the D3hoops.com poll and 21st in the WBCA poll, fell to 17-5 overall and dropped from a first-place tie with Lewis & Clark College into third place in the conference at 10-3.  Whitman climbed past the Bruins into second with an overall mark of 18-4 and 11-3 in the NWC.  Lewis & Clark maintained first alone with a 76-74 win at the University of Puget Sound.

Whitman never trailed during regulation play, jumping out to a 4-0 lead on layups by Madden and Meghan White.  Justin Benner got the Bruins going with a three-pointer, and after another White layup, Megan Arnoldy hit a three to tie the game 6-6 with 17:05 to go in the first half.  Madden made a three to break the tie at 16:17, and the Missionaries maintained the lead the rest of the half.

With both teams struggling offensively (the Bruins shot .192, 5-26, in the first half, the Missionaries .250, 9-36), the Whitman lead grew slowly.  The Bruins were within two at 16-14 following a layup by All-American center Hannah Munger, playing for the first time in three weeks after tweaking her damaged right knee against Puget Sound, but managed only a Munger free throw five minutes later the rest of the half.  Whitman thus was able to stretch its lead with a 9-1 run to 25-15 at the break, the last points coming on a Tiffani Traver three with 2:49 left.

After committing nine turnovers in the first half to only four by the Missionaries, the Bruins came out in the second half with a full-court press that forced several early Whitman miscues and got the visitors back in the game.  Layups by Munger and Hayley Cusick to start the period brought the Bruins within six before White hit a jumper, and the lead wavered between six and eight points until consecutive scores by McKenzie Wolfe, Benner and Munger made it a two-point game at 33-31 with 7:46 remaining.

Sarah Anderegg made two baskets for Whitman around a Jami Roos layup for the Bruins, but Munger hit back-to-back jumpers in the lane to tie it 37-37 with 3:03 left.  Heather Johns hit a jumper to put the Missionaries back in front with 2:10 to go, but Cusick's layup with 20 seconds left sent it into overtime.

The Bruins took their first lead of the game on a pair of Arnoldy free throws to open the extra period, but two freebies by Johns and one by Madden put the Missionaries ahead.  Arnoldy and Johns swapped baskets before a Munger free knotted in 44-44 with 1:15 to go, setting up Madden's go-ahead three.  Munger had a chance to tie it after making a layup and drawing a foul with 27 seconds left, but her free throw was off the mark and Johns sealed the win with two free throws with three seconds left.  Madden stole the Bruins' desperation length-of-the-court pass to try for a tying three.

Munger led all scorers with 16 points and tied Benner with a team-high seven rebounds.  Arnoldy scored nine before fouling out and Cusick added eight for the Bruins, who shot .317 (19-60) for the game and only .087 (2-23) from three-point range.  Cusick had three assists and four steals.

Madden scored 13 points and White 10 for the Missionaries, who shot .269 (18-67) from the field and .250 (3-12) from beyond the arc.  Anderegg finished with nine points and 10 rebounds and Johns had eight points and 10 boards, along with three assists and three steals.  Whitman controlled the glass 56-41. 

NEXT: George Fox plays another crucial contest Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Whitworth University, as the Pirates are 16-6 overall and 9-5 in the conference, just a game behind the Bruins … Whitman is off until next Friday, visiting Willamette University at 6:00 p.m. … Both are conference doubleheaders, with men's games following at 8:00 p.m.