SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth University women's basketball team, coming off of its first two-game road sweep to open the Northwest Conference schedule since 2001-02, will try to build on that momentum this week when the Pirates (7-4 overall, 2-0 NWC) host Lewis & Clark College (Friday at 6:00 p.m.) and Pacific University (Saturday at 4:00 p.m.) in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. 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: Saturday's doubleheader against Pacific University is the only date this season that the visiting team elected for the early Saturday start. The women's game will begin at 4:00 p.m., while the men will tip off at 6:00 p.m. Because Whitworth gets to start its NWC Saturday road games early, those schools that come to the Fieldhouse for Saturday contests have the option of starting early to get back home earlier. Pacific is the only NWC school to take that option in the Fieldhouse in 2008. The Pirates: Whitworth's 2-0 NWC road schedule start is the best since 2001-02, when the Bucs opened the conference schedule with wins at Lewis & Clark at Willamette.
Whitworth never trailed in a 75-70 win at Linfield College last Friday, but the Pirates could never shake the Wildcats either. Whitworth jumped to a 25-15 lead 10 minutes into the contest and took a 42-31 lead at halftime. Linfield rallied to within 71-70 with 20 seconds left, but Leah Pomante (So., G, Colbert, Wash.) and Alida Bower (Jr., F, Onalaska, Wash.) each hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to ice the win. Bower finished with 20 points to lead the Pirates, while Pomante added 12 points, including 8 of 10 from the free throw line. Whitworth again opened a big first half lead the following night at Willamette. Bower nailed four straight three-pointers to give the Pirates a 22-5 lead six minutes into the game. The Bucs eventually stretched the lead to 42-22 late in the first half before the Bearcats pulled within 44-33 at halftime. Bower's jumper gave Whitworth a 65-48 lead with 10 minutes to play and the Pirates led by double digits the rest of the way until Willamette hit a three-pointer just before the final buzzer. Bower scored a career high 26 points, while Natalie Orrell (So., F, Wenatchee, Wash.) chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds. Tough Schedule: The cumulative record of the opponents that handed Whitworth the four non-conference losses is 40-16. Both Eastern Oregon (11-1) and Lewis-Clark State (12-3) are nationally-ranked in the NAIA. Shooters: The Pirates have been the best three-point shooting team in the NWC so far this season. Whitworth has made a conference-best 8.1 three-pointers per game. At the same time Whitworth is second in the NWC lead in three-point percentage at 38.5%, just behind UPS (38.6%). The hot shooting has helped the Pirates score 72.1 points per game, the highest scoring average in the NWC. And it doesn't help to put Whitworth at the free throw line where the Bucs are making a league-best 73.2% of their attempts. 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 14.6 points per game to lead the team in scoring. She has made 45.2% of her three-point tries. Bower, who led the Pirates in scoring (13.6 ppg) last season, needs to play one more game to qualify for the NWC statistical leaders (with 75% game participation). Nifty Natalie: Natalie Orrell, who led the NWC in three-point percentage last season, is still one of Whitworth's most dangerous threats from beyond the arc. She has made 36% of her attempts from three-point range and is second on the team with a 13.4 scoring average this season. She has helped her scoring average by making 89.5% of her free throws (34-38) to lead the conference in that category.
Tough Tiff: Tiffany Corigliano (Jr., P, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) is making the most of her move to the starting line-up. Corigliano leads the team in rebounding (5.9 per game) and is third in scoring (9.9 per game). She has been smoking hot from three-point range, making 53.3% of her tries, which leads 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 third in the conference in assists per game (3.9), but perhaps more telling, she is first in the NWC in assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.1 assists for every turnover. She also leads the Bucs in steals (1.55 per contest) this season.
The Opponents: Lewis & Clark College is 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the NWC this season. The Pioneers were picked third in the NWC preseason coaches poll after finishing tied for third in the conference standings last season. L&C lost 75-70 at Pacific last Wednesday in the NWC opener, but rebounded to knock off Pacific Lutheran 70-67 in overtime last Friday at home. Senior guard Crystal Castle has established herself as a conference Player of the Year candidate by averaging a league-best 19.2 points per game to go with 8.5 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Allison Farr adds 13.5 points and 6.3 boards per game for fourth-year coach Julie Fulks. Last season Whitworth defeated L&C 68-59 in Spokane, but the Pioneers beat the Pirates 74-65 in Portland. Pacific University (2-8 overall, 1-1 NWC) got off to a good start in conference play with the home win over L&C. The Boxers then gave NWC defending co-champion Puget Sound a tough contest before falling 87-74 last Friday. Sophomore guard Molly Goldammer is the current NWC Player of the Week after she scored 53 points in the two games last week, including 36 against UPS while making 7 of 7 from three point range, four points shy of the school record. Amy Pedersen (Sr., G) leads Pacific in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.0 rpg). Sharon Rissmiller is in her first season as head coach of the Boxers. Last season Whitworth defeated Pacific 64-52 at home and 60-48 on the road. 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 208-132 during her tenure as the Pirate head coach. Her current winning percentage of .612 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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