WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Hot fevers and cold shooting doomed Whitworth's chances at making the 2007 Northwest Conference women's basketball playoffs as the visiting Pirates lost 58-48 at Whitman on Tuesday night.

Alida Bower led the Pirates with 13 points

With two players home due to the flu, and another severely limited by her symptoms, Whitworth (13-11 overall, 7-8 NWC) dropped its third straight contest. The Bucs can still tie for third place, but do not hold tiebreaker advantages over Linfield and L&C, the two teams in front of Whitworth in the NWC standings.

Whitman (12-12, 7-8) won its second of the last three to keep its hopes alive of tying for third. But like Whitworth, Whitman does not own any tiebreakers against Linfield or L&C.

The Missionaries broke away from a 17-15 lead with a 10-0 run late in the first half. But Whitworth's Alida Bower hit a buzzer beating three pointer at the end of the half to pull the Pirates back within 29-22 at the break.

Whitman quickly extended the lead back to double digits in the second half, and led 46-35 with 6:31 to play. But Whitworth fought back to within 51-45 with just under a minute to play after a basket by Susan McDaniel. However the Missionaries made 7/8 free throws down the stretch to prevent any comeback.

Whitworth guard Teresa Zeitler did not start and was limited to 10 minutes because of her flu symptoms. Leah Pomante and Jamie Scott, two key players off of the bench for the Bucs, did not make the trip from Spokane for the same reason.

Bower led Whitworth with 13 points, while McDaniel added 11. Tiffany Corigliano scored 10 points off of the bench. Four different players had five rebounds and Cassie Snyder had five assists.

Katie Patneaude scored a game-high 17 points to lead Whitman, while Kristina Francis added 10 points. Emily Shubin grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Both the Pirates and Missionaries finish the season against Willamette University. Whitworth hosts the Bearcats on Friday night and Whitman will host them on Saturday.