By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Ashley Evans (Sr., PG, Canby, OR/Canby HS) of Willamette University hit a 3-point basket from the right side with 16.6 seconds remaining in the game to break a 52-52 tie and send the Bearcats to a 55-52 victory over 13th-ranked Whitman College in a Northwest Conference Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game on Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Sherwood Center. Willamette will play in the NWC Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 24 against George Fox University.

"It feels amazing," said Willamette senior guard Kylie Towry (Medford, OR/South Medford HS). "We came together when we were challenged. Nothing feels better than when we come together and win like that."

GFU defeated Lewis & Clark College, 80-41, in the other NWC semifinal on Thursday. The title game will be played on the Bruins' home court in Newberg, Oregon, on Saturday starting at 7 p.m. (PST).

Willamette improved to 17-9 on the season. Whitman, ranked 13th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, fell to 22-4

The 3-pointer by Evans was the final basket in a hectic finish that saw Whitman erase a six-point deficit with an 8-0 run during a 31-second span with less than two minutes to go. Willamette held a 50-44 advantage following a 3-pointer by Britanny Kochenderfer (Jr., G, Klamath Falls, OR/Henley HS/Idaho State Univ.) with 2:30 left.

Whitman's rally started with two free throws by Mady Burdett at the 1:48 mark. The Bearcats committed a turnover near mid-court and then Casey Poe put in a 13-foot jumper to cut the lead to 50-48. The Blues stole the ball on the next two in-bounds plays by Willamette and turned the steals into a layup by Taylor Chambers with 1:25 to go and a layup by Poe with 1:17 on the clock. The run ended with Whitman in front, 52-50.

"That was when I used the full timeout to first let them sit down and take a breath," Willamette Head Coach Peg Swadener said. "Whitman has been in those situations before; our team hasn't been with this much on the line."

Drew Farmer (So., G, Brookings, OR/Brookings Harbor HS) put through a 10-foot jumper for the Bearcats to tie the game on WU's next possession with 57 seconds left. Burdett then missed a shot for Whitman at the other end of the court and Willamette gained control. Evans sank the go-ahead 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down on the Bearcats.

"Britanny was the one who got my girl to bite," Evans said. "I knew the shot clock was running down, so I thought 'I just have to shoot this.'"

In addition to drawing the attention of the defender guarding Evans, Kochenderfer provided an assist on the winning play.

"I had it in my mind that Ashley was open on a lot of plays," Kochenderfer commented. "I saw her out of the corner of my eye. When I passed it to her, I knew that she was going to make it."

Neither team scored the rest of the way. Burdett was unable to connect on a jumper with about six seconds remaining. Farmer missed two free throws for Willamette with 3.2 seconds on the clock. Whitman called timeout and advanced the ball. The Blues had trouble getting the ball into play and had to use another timeout. Towry tipped the in-bounds pass and the Blue were called for a backcourt violation with 1.8 seconds to go.

"On the first possession, we were really close to a 5-second call," Towry recalled. "The second time, their shooter in-bounded the ball. I figured they would go right back to the shooter. It's great to get a tip on the ball because it kills clock."

Towry was the game's top scorer with 21 points. She also provided WU with eight rebounds and five assists. Kochenderfer contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10  boards, while Evans achieved eight points and three assists.

"It's unbelievable night-in and night-out how determined Kylie is to win," Swadener said. "She just gets it done. She's been in my office every day this past week to look at film."

Poe led Whitman with 16 points. Chambers finished 5 of 7 from the field and 2 of 4 on 3-pointers for 15 points. Makana Stone registered nine points and 10 boards. Emily Rommel also contributed 10 rebounds. Even so, Willamette ended the game with a 38-36 rebounding edge.

The Bearcats trailed 4-1 two minutes into the game. Willamette answered with a 6-2 run to take a 7-6 lead on a pair of free throws by Evans at the 5:16 mark. A bit later, Towry put in two layups and Amanda Carpenter (Fr., G, Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS) added two free throws, giving WU a 13-7 lead with 3:16 to go. The Bearcats held a 13-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

Evans hit the game's first 3-pointer just 17 seconds into the second quarter to increase Willamette's advantage to 16-11. Towry scored on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7:53 remaining in the half for a 19-13 lead. The Blues pulled within 19-15 on a layup by Poe less than a minute later. 

Willamette tacked on the next four points on a short jumper by Jada Leonard (Fr., G, Kent, WA/Kentlake HS) and a driving layup by Towry for a 23-15 advantage. The Bearcats led by at least six points during the remainder of the half. In the final minute, Towry scored four unanswered points to provide the Bearcats with a 29-19 margin at the break. Towry topped all scorers with 15 points in the first half.

Whitman earned the first four points of the second half to reduce Willamette's lead to six points. The Bearcats followed with an 8-2 run that began with a 3-pointer from Towry and ended with five points by Britanny Kochenderfer (Jr., G, Klamath Falls, OR/Henley HS/Idaho State Univ.) on a layup and a 3-point shot. Willamette led 37-25 with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

A 3-pointer by Chambers of Whitman about a minute later started a 7-2 surge by the Blues, cutting Willamette's margin to 39-32 entering the final quarter.

Ten seconds into the fourth quarter, Chambers scored on a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 39-35, but Kochenderfer added a 3-pointer for Willamette to give the Bearcats a 42-35 edge with 8:44 left. The Bearcats eventually claimed a 47-40 margin with 3:53 on the clock, before a layup and a jumper by Poe pulled Whitman within 47-44 at the 2:51 mark.

Willamette limited the Blues to 22.2% shooting in the first quarter (4 of 18) and just 25.0% on field goals in the second quarter (3 of 12). Whitman finished the game at 33.3% (21 of 63), but made only 2 of 11 three-point shots. Willamette connected on 39.2% of its shots, including 8 of 16 (50.0%) from behind the 3-point line.

"We have to take it one game at a time ... a one-game season," Towry said. "It starts with each possession at a time, and when we do that we play well."

Now the Bearcats are one win away from a Northwest Conference Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.