The University of La Verne women's basketball squad dropped a 70-55 decision at home to Whitman College in the season opener Friday evening at Frantz Athletic Court.
An 11-0 first-half run by the Missionaries turned a 16-15 deficit into a 26-16 advantage on their way to a 37-24 at the break. Whitman, which led by as many as 17 in the first half, excelled from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes by making 11 of its 13 attempts (84.6%).
In the second half, the Leopards mounted an early rally and pulled within seven points on a three-pointer from Brittni Tapia to cut the Whitman lead at 43-36 at the 15:50 mark. The Missionaries however would regain momentum and stretch their lead to 14 points on a jumper from Heather Johns.
La Verne once again worked the margin back down to seven on consecutive baskets from Tyne McClure and Kimmie Fung to trail 54-47 with 7:08 to play. But the Leopards would get no closer as Whitman held off the Leopards by pushing the lead back to double digits with three minutes remaining.
A three-pointer from Tiffani Traver extended the Whitman lead to 66-51 with 2:29 to play, and a Sarah Anderreg layup with 59 seconds left helped preserve the win for the visitors.
Whitman shot 47.1% from the field for the contest and enjoyed a solid rebounding edge of 44-27.
Johns paced Whitman with a game-high 16 points. For La Verne, Lindsey Foster scored a team-high 14 points while Amanda Copas added 9. McClure and Tapia each totaled 8 points.
La Verne will resume action on Sunday as it hosts Linfield at Frantz Athletic Court in a 7:00 pm tip-off.
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