The Grinnell College women's basketball team saw a 32-31 halftime lead slip away as Whittier College pulled away for a 66-52 victory Monday night in California. The winners, who had a 19-point effort from Kourtney Zilbert, improved to 4-6 on the season. The Pioneers fell to 2-8.

Hannah Wolf '08 led Grinnell with 16 points, while Jessica Vaverka '11 grabbed 14 rebounds. Jodi Watkins '09 added two steals while Wolf tallied five assists.

Grinnell built its lead as big as eight in the first half when a trey by Wolf made it 20-12 with 11:17 left. The visitors continued to hold off the hosts until a run gave Whittier a 31-30 lead. However, a jumper by Wolf with :03 left put Grinnell up 32-31 at the break.

Whittier took the lead early in the second half when Mallory Scharf '11 of Grinnell forced the first tie of the game as her 3-pointer made it 35-all with 17:23 left in the game. Whittier went up by as many as seven, but Grinnell rallied and went up 45-44 on a 3-pointer by Jessica Shotts '10. There were a few more ties before the Pioneers took their final lead at 50-49 on a free throw by Brianna Gallo '11 with 5:44 left. However, the hosts answered with an 8-0 run to pull away.

Grinnell jumps back into Midwest Conference play Saturday with a home contest against Lake Forest College at Darby Gymnasium. Game time is 1 p.m.
Box Score