WALLA WALLA, Wash. - (From Whitman Sports Information) Whitworth College bounced back from a Friday loss to outscore Wisconsin Lutheran 74-56 Saturday afternoon at the WHIT Classic II women's basketball tournament.

Susan McDaniel led with 18 points and 7 boards

The four-team tournament, taking place in Sherwood Center on the Whitman College campus, concludes this afternoon with Whitman playing the University of La Verne.

Susan McDaniel, a 5-foot-10 sophomore post, scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to spark Whitworth over Wisconsin Lutheran. Now 8-3 on the season, Whitworth also got double-digit scoring from Alida Bower and Teresa Zeitler, each of whom had 14 points.

Whitworth jumped in front 18-9 in the game's first six minutes and held a 34-27 lead over Wisconsin Lutheran at halftime. The Pirates scored the first five points of the second half and maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Emily Laete paced the Warriors with 15 points and four rebounds. Kristen Dillon added 10 points and four boards.

Coming Up: Whitworth will return to Northwest Conference play with the turning of the new year. The Pirates will travel to Linfield College and George Fox University next weekend.

Linfield is 6-4 overall and 1-1 in the NWC this season. The Wildcats have not played since a 62-45 win over the University of Dallas at home on December 20th. As usual Linfield gets contributions from throughout the roster, as 10 players have played in at least nine of the games. But none are averaging double figures in scoring. Sara Burgoyne is the leading scorer at 9.2 points per game. Last year Whitworth split with Linfield, falling 70-65 on the road and winning 58-46 at home.

While its overall record of 5-4 might not appear impressive at first, George Fox has played a tough schedule and has defeated two teams ranked in the top 25 of NCAA Division III. One of those was a 57-41 win over Bridgewater (Va.), ranked 16th at the time, on December 18th at a tournament in Hawaii. That was the Bruin's last official game. This weekend's scheduled game with Wis.-Oshkosh was cancelled by weather after they rolled past Thompson Rivers University of Canada in an exhibition by a score of 71-40. All-NWC wing Robin Taylor averages 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Whitworth and George Fox split last season's games, with the Bruins winning 58-42 at home and the Pirates winning 66-57 in Spokane.

Both games will be carried on KSBN 1230 am and KSBN.net. Friday's game begins at 6:00 pm, while Saturday's game will start at 4:00 pm.