Complete Box Score and Play by Play

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A new era for the Whitworth women's basketball team dawned successfully on Saturday night as the Pirates, with five new starters in the lineup, defeated visiting Northwest University 72-61 in the team's season opener.

Alida Bower scored 18 in her Whitworth debut

Sophomore forward Alida Bower led four players who scored in double figures for Whitworth with 18 points. Danielle Wegman and Holly Ridings each scored 15 points and Emily Hendrickson posted her first career double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Kim Sandberg led the Eagles with 15 points, while Brittney Bowsher came off of the bench to add 10 points. Emilee Eisinger led Northwest with ten rebounds.

Displaying no nervousness for a season opener, the Pirates never trailed in the game and opened their first double digit lead (15-4) less than five minutes into the game on a three pointer by Teresa Zeitler. The Pirates led by as many as 13 points in the first half before taking a 36-26 lead into the locker rooms.

Whitworth stretched the lead to 48-30 on a three pointer by Hendrickson with with just over 16 minutes to play. But Northwest battled back, eventually trimming the lead to 61-57 on a basket by Sandberg with five minutes to go. But Bower answered with a running jumper in the key and Northwest was never closer than six points the rest of the game.

The Eagles struggled from three point range, making only 1 of 13 tries on the night. Whitworth was 6/19 from beyond the arc.

The Pirates return to action on Sunday night, hosting Montana Tech at 5:00 pm. Montana Tech lost to Northwest 77-72 in a game played in the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Friday night.