SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth University women's basketball team can still make the Northwest Conference women's basketball tournament, but the Pirates certainly have their work cut out for them. Whitworth trails third place Lewis & Clark by two games with four to play, and two of the Bucs' contests will come against the top two teams in the NWC. Coming off of an 0-2 trip to Oregon, Whitworth will host Pacific Lutheran on Friday and NWC co-leader Puget Sound on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 6:00 p.m. as part of NWC doubleheaders.
Whitworth will sponsor its own Think Pink game on Saturday, February 16th to support the fight against breast cancer. Anyone who attends the Whitworth-Puget Sound game wearing pink will be admitted free. Donations will also be accepted for the Kay Yow/WBCA breast cancer fund in lieu of admission. Radio/Internet: All the Pirates' NWC road games will be carried live by KSBN 1230 am and Bob Castle will call the play by play. In addition to the on-air broadcast, the KSBN internet simulcast can be picked up either on the Whitworth Athletics site, or at KSBN.net by selecting the "listen now" button. Also, Whitworth now offers "Live Stats" for all home games. The live stats link is: http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball/livestats/xlive.htm. The Pirates: Whitworth lost twice over the weekend in Oregon, falling two games behind L&C in the race for the third and final NWC playoff spot.
Whitworth kept last Friday's 69-57 loss at Lewis & Clark close for 30 of the game's 40 minutes. During that time there were 10 ties and several lead changes. Alida Bower's (Jr., F, Onalaska, Wash.) three point shot with 10:30 to play pulled Whitworth within 46-44. But the Pioneers went on a 9-1 run to open a 55-45 lead with 7:39 to go and were able to keep the Bucs at arms-length the rest of the way. Natalie Orrell (So., F, Wenatchee, Wash.) led the Pirates in both scoring (15) and rebounding (5), while Bower finished with 14 points. Cassie Snyder (Sr., G, Spokane, Wash.) added 12 points and a game-high seven assists. Whitworth stumbled hard out of the gate against last-place Pacific on Saturday, falling behind by as many as 21 points (35-14) in the first half. But the Pirates rallied to within 41-30 at halftime, fell behind by as many as 15 points again in the second half (49-34), and then began chipping away at the lead. The comeback was temporarily stalled by a questionable technical foul call against Cassie Snyder, but Whitworth used an 11-0 run late in the game to turn a 65-55 deficit into a 66-65 lead on Leah Pomante's (So., G, Colbert, Wash.) lay up with 1:51 left. But the Pirates could not score again and lost 69-66 when Pomante's tying three attempt and a put back try by Courtney Gaddis (Fr., F, Honolulu, Hawaii) in the final seconds would not fall. Alida Bower finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Liz Horiatis (Fr., P, Woodinville, Wash.) had 12 points and Teresa Zeitler (Sr., G, Medical Lake, Wash.) finished with 11 points. Shooters: The Pirates continue to flourish offensively, especially from three-point range. Whitworth is second in the Northwest Conference in team three-point percentage (.357) and leads in three-pointers made per game (7.05, 11th NCAA Div. III). In addition, the Pirates are near the top in team free throw percentage (.718) and get to the free throw line more than any other team in the conference (21.3 attempts per game). Those numbers allow Whitworth to lead the NWC in scoring offense this season (68.4 ppg). Bower is Back: Whitworth had a scare earlier this season when returning All-NWC forward Alida Bower went down with a knee injury. But after missing four games she has returned to average 13.2 points per game to lead the team in scoring. She has made 39.4% of her three-point tries and ranks second in the NWC in three-pointers made per game (2.4). Bower is also the Pirates' leader in rebounds (5.9 per game) and steals (1.53) this season.
Nifty Natalie: Natalie Orrell is second on the team with a 12.7 scoring average this season, which currently ranks 11th in the NWC. She is shooting 48% from the field this season to rank among the NWC leaders, and is second in the league in free throw percentage (.791). Tough Tiff: Tiffany Corigliano (Jr., P, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) has made the most of her move to the starting line-up this season. Corigliano is second on the team in rebounding (5.8 per game) and is third in scoring (9.0 per game). She had to struggle through a severe flu virus this weekend, limiting her minutes in the L&C and Pacific games. Steady Snyder: Cassie Snyder is once again proving a steady force at point guard for the Pirates. Snyder is third in the conference in assists per game (3.4) and she is second in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.5 assists for every turnover. She also is second on the team in steals (1.3 per contest) this season. The NWC Tournament: Winning the Northwest Conference basketball title is fairly simple. The team or teams that finish atop the final standings are considered conference champions. However, the NWC, like most NCAA Division III leagues, awards its automatic NCAA playoff bid to the champion of its post-season tournament. The conference has constructed a tournament that strongly favors the regular season champion. On Thursday the 28th of February, the third-place team, or seed (in case of tie), will travel to play at the second-place team or seed. The winner of that game will play for the tournament title at the home court of the regular season champion, or top seed, on Saturday March 1st for the automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III tournament.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran (11-10 overall, 4-8 NWC) is looking to break a four game losing streak heading into Friday's game at Whitworth. The Lutes lost 75-54 at home to Puget Sound last Tuesday, then fell 60-57 at Willamette on Saturday. Senior guard Kyle Haag averages 14.3 points per game and is the NWC's most dangerous three-point shooter. She makes 40% of her attempts and leads the NWC in three-pointers made per contest (3.3). On January 18th PLU ended another four game losing streak with an 81-64 win over Whitworth in Tacoma. Alida Bower had 20 points for the Pirates. Puget Sound (18-3, 11-1 and ranked 16th in the most recent D3hoops.com poll) has won ten games in a row heading into the weekend. The Loggers followed their convincing win at PLU with a 62-52 win at Linfield on Friday. Senior post Marissa Cain leads a balanced attack with 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Senior guard Laura Hirsch adds 13.6 points and is the top three-point shooter for the league's best three-point percentage team. On January 19th Whitworth led UPS 65-55 before the Loggers closed the game on a 10-0 run for a 65-56 win. The Coach: Helen Higgs is in her 14th season at Whitworth University and is the winningest women's basketball coach in school history. She has a record of 212-138 during her tenure as the Pirate head coach. Her current winning percentage of .606 is also the best all-time among Pirate head coaches. She has been named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year three times. Go to Athletics Home Page > Women's Basketball > Sports Releases > |
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