SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth University women's basketball team heads into the second half of the Northwest Conference schedule tied for third place in the NWC standings with three other schools. The Pirates (9-8 overall, 4-4 NWC) hope to hold on to that third place position, which will give the team a spot in the NWC playoffs at the end of the year.

Whitworth, which played only three home games (out of eight) during the first half of the NWC schedule, will close with five of their last eight games in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. That stretch begins this weekend with home games against Linfield College (Friday) and Willamette University (Saturday), both at 6:00 p.m.

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: The February 9th NWC doubleheader at Pacific University will begin with the women's game at 4:00 p.m. and the men at 6:00 p.m.

The Pirates: Despite losing to NWC-leading George Fox over the weekend, Whitworth remains tied with PLU, Whitman and Lewis & Clark for third place in the conference standings.

Whitworth made two strong runs at George Fox during the second half of last Saturday's 65-49 loss. Alida Bower's (Jr., F, Onalaska, Wash.) three-pointer pulled the Pirates within 38-36 six minutes into the period before the Bruins extended the lead back to 46-36. Whitworth scored the next six points to pull within 46-42 with 6:23 to go. But George Fox outscored Whitworth 19-7 the rest of the way to win comfortably. Bower led Whitworth with 12 points, while Liz Horiatis (Fr., P, Woodinville, Wash.) came off of the bench for nine points.

Alida Bower

Tough Schedule: The cumulative record of the opponents that handed Whitworth the four non-conference losses is 59-22. Both Eastern Oregon (17-2) and Lewis-Clark State (18-3) are nationally-ranked in the NAIA.

Shooters: The Pirates continue to flourish offensively, especially from three-point range. Whitworth is second in the Northwest Conference in team three-point percentage (.353) and leads in three-pointers made per game (6.9, 16th NCAA Div. III). In addition, the Pirates are near the top in team free throw percentage (.722) and get to the free throw line more than any other team in the conference (20.7 attempts per game). Those numbers allow Whitworth to lead the NWC in scoring offense this season (68.0 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 12.7 points per game, second on the team in scoring. She has made 39.5% of her three-point tries and ranks second in the NWC in three-pointers made per game (2.3). Bower is also the Pirates' second-leading rebounder this season, at 5.3 per contest.

Nifty Natalie: Natalie Orrell (So., F, Wenatchee, Wash.) leads the team with a 12.8 scoring average this season, which currently ranks 10th in the NWC. She is shooting 47% from the field this season to rank among the NWC leaders, and is fifth in the league in free throw percentage (.787).

Cassie Snyder

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 leads the team in rebounding (5.9 per game) and is third in scoring (9.2 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 (3.12) and she is third in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.3 assists for every turnover. She also leads the Bucs in steals (1.4 per contest) this season.

2007-08 NWC Standings	NWC	Overall
George Fox	8-0	16-1
Puget Sound	7-1	14-3
Pacific Lutheran	4-4	11-6
Whitman	4-4	10-7
Whitworth	4-4	9-8
Lewis & Clark	4-4	8-9
Linfield	2-6	9-8
Willamette	2-6	4-13
Pacific (Ore.)	1-7	2-14
Through Jan. 27, 2008

The Opponents: Linfield comes into the weekend 9-8 overall and 2-6 in the NWC after dropping a pair of conference contests last week. The Wildcats lost 69-60 at home to Pacific Lutheran and 53-45 on the road at Lewis & Clark. Senior point guard Brihtani Lassiter is the only Linfield player currently averaging in double figures in scoring at 12.4 points per game. She also leads the team in assists. Robin Stewart is in her 11th year as head coach of the Wildcats. On January 4th Whitworth pulled out a 75-70 win over Linfield in McMinnville, Oregon behind 20 points by Alida Bower.

Willamette University is 4-13 overall and 2-6 in the NWC this season. The Bearcats split at home last weekend: defeating Pacific 56-54 on Friday before falling to Puget Sound 62-51 on Saturday. Junior guard Molly Fillion averages 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, while senior Laura Payne adds 13.0 points per contest. Bruce Hederson is in his third season as head coach at Willamette. On January 5th Whitworth won 86-77 over the Bearcats in Salem, Oregon when Alida Bower scored 26 points.

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 210-136 during her tenure as the Pirate head coach. Her current winning percentage of .607 is also the best all-time among Pirate head coaches. She has been named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year three times.

2007-08 Schedule

2007-08 Roster

2007-08 Statistics