SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth University women's basketball team will face Northwest Conference leading George Fox University on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. It is the only game of the weekend for the Pirates (9-7 overall, 4-3 NWC), who are in the thick of the hunt for an NWC playoff spot. Whitworth followed up a disappointing weekend in Tacoma with an important win at Whitman College on Tuesday night that allowed the Bucs to move into a third place tie with the Missionaries in the NWC standings. 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. Early Start: All of Whitworth's Saturday NWC road doubleheaders will begin with the women's game at 4:00 p.m. and the men's game at 6:00 p.m. The Pirates: Despite losing consecutive road games at Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound over the weekend, Whitworth is tied with Whitman (both at 4-3) for third place in the current NWC standings. PLU forced Whitworth into one of the team's worst performances of the season in Friday night's 81-64 loss to the Lutes. The Pirates shot only 37% from the field (21-57) and were outrebounded 43-25, allowing 17 offensive rebounds to PLU. Alida Bower (Jr., F, Onalaska, Wash.) kept the Pirates in the game most of the way with 20 points, including 4 three pointers in 8 attempts. Whitworth played much better against 25th-ranked Puget Sound on Saturday, opening a 10-point lead in the first half and trading leads with the Loggers throughout most of the second half. A basket by Liz Horiatis (Fr., P, Woodinville, Wash.) with 2:47 left gave the Pirates their last lead of the game (56-55). UPS used free throw shooting down the stretch to outscore the Pirates 10-0 the rest of the way to win 65-56. Tiffany Corigliano (Jr., P, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) scored 14 points to lead Whitworth. Despite short rest, Whitworth went to Whitman and picked up an important 73-65 win over the Missionaries. After falling behind by five points (38-33) early in the second half, Whitworth went on a 15-2 run to grab an eight point lead (48-40). The Pirates held on to the lead by scoring their final 16 points from the free throw line, making 16 of 20 attempts. Natalie Orrell (So., F, Wenatchee, Wash.) was 7 for 7 from the field to lead all players with 16 points. Bower added a game-high 11 rebounds.
Tough Schedule: The cumulative record of the opponents that handed Whitworth the four non-conference losses is 52-21. Both Eastern Oregon (15-2) and Lewis-Clark State (16-3) are nationally-ranked in the NAIA. Shooters: The Pirates continue to flourish offensively, especially from three-point range. Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in team three-point percentage (.356) and in three-pointers made per game (7.2). In addition, the Pirates are near the top in team free throw percentage (.721) and get to the free throw line more than any other team in the conference (21.5 attempts per game). Those numbers allow Whitworth to lead the NWC in scoring offense this season (69.2 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 12.8 points per game, second on the team in scoring. She has made 39% of her three-point tries and ranks second in the NWC in three-pointers made per game (2.33). Bower is also the Pirates' second-leading rebounder this season, at 5.4 per contest. Nifty Natalie: Natalie Orrell leads the team with a 13.0 scoring average this season, which currently ranks 9th in the NWC. She is shooting 47% from the field this season to rank among the NWC leaders, and is fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.797).
Tough Tiff: Tiffany Corigliano has made the most of her move to the starting line-up this season. Corigliano leads the team in rebounding (6.0 per game) and is third in scoring (9.6 per game). She has been smoking hot from three-point range, making 47.5% of her tries, which ranks second in the NWC. Steady Snyder: Cassie Snyder (Sr., G, Spokane, Wash.) is once again proving a steady force at point guard for the Pirates. Snyder is fifth in the conference in assists per game (3.3) and she is third in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.3 assists for every turnover. She also leads the Bucs in steals (1.44 per contest) this season.
The Opponents: George Fox University is 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the NWC. The Bruins, ranked 14th in the latest D3hoops.com top-25 poll, come into the weekend on a nine-game winning streak. That streak includes wins over Lewis & Clark (58-41 at home) last Friday and Pacific (74-53 away) on Saturday. GFU will take on Whitman on Friday night before driving up to Spokane to play Whitworth. Head coach Scott Rueck is in his 12th season guiding the Bruins. He is getting great production out of senior post Katy Campbell, who is an NWC Player of the Year candidate. She averages 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while making 52% of her three-point tries. Meanwhile, senior point guard Tiffany Behary leads the team in assists and steals. Last season George Fox defeated Whitworth 66-50 in Newberg, but the Pirates were able to upset the eventual conference champions 63-62 in Spokane behind 13 points apiece from Bower and Corigliano. 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 210-135 during her tenure as the Pirate head coach. Her current winning percentage of .609 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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