WALLA WALLA - Northwest Conference rivals Whitman and Whitworth staged their fourth meeting of the 2013-14 women's basketball season Saturday night during the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament on George Ball Court at Sherwood Center.

After claiming two regular-season meetings on their way to undefeated conference and overall marks (16-0 and 25-0, respectively), the Missionaries suffered a 68-65 setback to the Pirates in the championship game of the NWC tournament that unfolded March 1 on the Whitman College campus.

Saturday's stakes were further advanced than the previous week. The winner would earn a berth in the Sweet Sixteen while the team on the short end of the final score would see its successful season ended.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Missionaries had exacted revenge and sent the Pirates packing after a 73-67 victory.

"It's a shame Whitworth isn't going on," said Whitman coach Michelle Ferenz, who achieved her 200th coaching win with Saturday's triumph. "They played well the last three weeks.

"Anytime we play Whitworth, I'm not comfortable," Ferenz said. "They are an athletic, physical team."

Whitman's next port of call will be announced Monday. Information will be posted on both the d3hoops and NCAA Web sites.

After yielding the first bucket of the game, the Missionaries ripped off the next 10 points. Hailey Mcdonald collected an errant Whitworth pass near mid-court, a toss that she had initially knocked away, and converted the turnover into a 13-foot, right-angle jumper to end the run at the 16-minute mark.

Just under three minutes later, Mcdonald was fouled attempting a left-wing three. She sank all three of her tries from the free throw line with 13:12 on the clock to raise the Whitman lead to nine, 15-6.

Another nine-point advantage - 17-8 - was realized by the Missionaries at the 12:20 mark on an Alysse Ketner bank shot.

The lead increased to 11, 21-10, when Heather Johns freed herself up for a layin with 9:10 left the first half.

Tiffani Traver drilled a trey at the 4:47 mark to make the margin an even dozen, 26-14.

"We got off to a great start," Ferenz said. "Our energy was amazing."

Following a Traver freebie, the Pirates used a 9-2 run to draw within six, 29-23, just 2:07 before halftime.

Whitman countered with a 9-2 surge of its own to end the half. Traver started the run on a bull's eye from three-point range with 1:19 remaining and sent a huge contingent of Whitman partisans into a state of hysterical delight with a bomb from the right corner as time expired to send the Missionaries into intermission with a 38-25 lead.

Sarah Anderegg led Missionary scorers in the first 20 minutes with 11 points and Traver added 10.

While Whitman prospered at the offensive end of the court to the tune of 48-percent shooting from the field (14-of-29) in half one, its defense held the Pirates to 31 percent efficiency (9-of-29) which included an 0-for-7 showing from long distance.

Johns opened the second half by following a miss of her own jump shot and burying a three within the first minute to give the Missionaries a 43-25 lead.

But Whitworth stormed back with 21-7 spurt over an 8:51 stretch to draw within four, 50-46. Alexis McLeod drove and scored to complete the run with exactly 10 minutes to go.

The Missionaries got the lead back up to 11, 59-48, with 7:06 on the clock when Traver drained both ends of a one-and-one.

The Pirates charged back over the next six-and-a half minutes and clawed back within two, 69-67, on a Kayla Johnson charity toss with 33.7 seconds left.

But Johns knocked down two free throws with 25.1 seconds remaining and Traver converted a transition chance with 12 seconds to go off a blocked shot by Johns to end the scoring.

"(Games like this) are preparing us for these big-time (tournament) games," said guard Marah Alindogan. "It's amazing we're all a part of this."

Hailey Ann Maeda provided the final exclamation point in the closing seconds with a blocked shot.

"I love to play basketball," Maeda said. "I'm going to play hard no matter what the score is."

Traver ended up with a team-high 17 points while Johns and Anderegg contributed 15 apiece.

"They like to win," Ferenz said of her team. "They had a great weekend. We're going to enjoy this."

Johnson led all scorers with 21 points.