ORANGE, Calif. – A season-high for Makena Nitao led the Chapman University women's basketball to its third straight victory – 72-69 over visiting Whitworth. Nitao scored 26 points to move the Panthers to 6-3 on the season.

Nitao's best scoring night of her young career came on 12-of-20 shooting. She knocked down the only three-point attempt she took and successfully completed a three-point play to sink her only free throw attempt. The freshman had nine points at halftime but took over in the fourth quarter.

She scored seven in the third to help the Panthers overcome a halftime deficit and played every second of the fourth quarter to shoot 5-for-7 and score 10 of Chapman's 17 points.

Layla Woods scored 11 points to go along with a pair of rebounds and three steals while Shanna Brown scored 12 points off the bench. Hana Speaks scored eight points off the bench.

The Panthers built an early 15-7 lead over the first five minutes of the game. However, the Pirates quickly erased the eight-point deficit entirely. Brown's buzzer beater to end the first quarter gave Chapman a two-point lead at the first break. The Pirates seized back momentum and led by four at halftime.

Chapman's initial eight-point lead was the largest of the night for either side as the teams went back and forth with six lead changes and three ties. Chapman ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run to go up 55-50 and held off Whitworth in the forth to finish their back-to-back-to-back stretch with a third consecutive win.

The Pirates went 10-for-19 from three-point range but the Panthers were able to convert 17 forced turnovers into 21 points while Whitworth scored just four points of nine Chapman turnovers.

The Panthers return to the Hutton Sports Center floor on Dec. 28 to face Antelope Valley before restarting SCIAC play on Jan. 3.