SPOKANE, Wash. - The playoffs essentially start now for the Whitworth women's basketball team. Even though the schedule shows that the Northwest Conference playoffs begin on Thursday, February 26th, the Pirates (12-9 overall, 6-6 NWC) enter this week tied for fifth in the conference standings and only the top four teams make the NWC tournament. The good news is that Whitworth will be playing three of the other teams in contention for the playoffs and the Bucs can still clinch a spot in the NWC tournament by winning three of its final four games. Whitworth controls its own destiny. The next three games will go a long way toward determining that outcome. On Friday Whitworth plays at Puget Sound (second place), on Saturday at Pacific Lutheran (tied with Whitworth for fifth) and next Tuesday at Whitman (tied with Pacific for third). All three games can be heard on KSBN 1230am and KSBN.net.
The Bucs dropped into the tie for fifth place in the NWC standings with a split at home last weekend. Whitworth fell to a resurgent Willamette squad 73-64, despite 18 points and seven rebounds from Liz Horiatis (So., P, Woodinville, Wash.). On Saturday Whitworth came from behind late in the game to beat Linfield 62-58. Cassie Pilkinton (Jr., G, Chelan, Wash.) and Natalie Orrell (Jr., F, Wenatchee, Wash.) scored 23 and 20 points respectively. Orrell scored the game-winning basket with 35 seconds to play and Pilkinton sank the clinching free throws with eight seconds left. The Pirates: Whitworth has been successful this season when the Pirates have been able to force their style of play on opponents. Defensively Whitworth ranks second in the NWC in steals per game (9.8). Offensively Whitworth leads the conference in three-pointers per game (6.6) and is third in team three-point percentage (31.8). But the Pirates are most effective when they work the ball inside first, then find the open shooter on the perimeter. NWC Coaches Poll: Whitworth finished second in the 2008 NWC coaches preseason poll. The Pirates finished just behind Whitman in the voting. Bombs Away: Whitworth leads the NWC in three-pointers made per game and is third in team three-point field goal percentage this season. A big reason has been the shooting of Cassie Pilkinton. Pilkinton, a transfer from North Idaho College, leads the conference in three-point percentage (43.4%) and is second in three-pointers per game (1.71). She leads the Bucs in scoring average this season (12.4 ppg). Before her season-ending knee injury, Alida Bower (Sr., F, Onalaska, Wash.) had moved up to fourth in three-point percentage (35.6) and fourth in three-pointers per game (1.63). Sweet Home Washington: For the first time in head coach Helen Higgs' tenure, every player on the Whitworth roster hails from the state of Washington. Players from the local greater-Spokane area include: Leah Pomante (Jr., G, Colbert, Wash. / Mt. Spokane), Ren Mallory (Jr., G, Spokane / Lewis & Clark, CC of Spokane), Heather Burke (Jr., G, Cheney / Cheney), Tiffany Corigliano (Sr., P, Nine Mile Falls / Lakeside), and Kim Bluff (Jr., G, Cusick / Cusick). Live Stats: Live statistics of all games played in the Whitworth Fieldhouse will be available all season by opening the following link in your web browser:
NWC Playoff Picture: Whitworth is in the thick of a muddled NWC playoff chase. Unbeaten George Fox will clinch the regular season title and the top seed in the NWC title if the Bruins win one more game (including tonight at Pacific). After that it gets crazy for the final three spots. Puget Sound stands in second place, one game ahead of Whitman and Pacific. Whitworth and PLU are more game behind. Much will be determined this weekend when UPS and PLU host Whitworth and Whitman. The Opponents: Puget Sound (14-7 overall, 8-4 NWC) stands alone in second place in the NWC standings. Last week the Loggers gained a measure of revenge by beating PLU 79-57 on Feb. 3 before falling to league-leading George Fox 49-38 on Saturday. Senior post Karen Chase leads UPS in scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg), while junior guard Claire Ely adds 11.8 points per contest. On January 16 Whitworth came back from a 12-point first half deficit to defeat the Loggers 47-43 in Spokane. Kim Bluff (Jr., G, Cusick, Wash.) came off of the bench for 10 points to spark the Pirates. Pacific Lutheran (12-9, 6-6) followed up its loss last Tuesday at UPS with an 80-51 clubbing of third-place Pacific at home. The Lutes get 12.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game from senior post Emily Voorhies and 10.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest from senior guard Trinity Gibbons. On January 17 Natalie Orrell nailed a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left in the game to lift Whitworth to a 59-57 win over PLU. Tiffany Corigliano (Sr., P, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) led the Bucs with 13 points and eight rebounds. Whitman (15-6, 7-5) appears to have righted its course with home wins over Linfield (86-59) and Willamette (86-52) last week. The Missionaries are the most efficient offensive team in the NWC, leading the league in scoring offense and field goal percentage. Junior guard Hilary White leads a balanced attack with averages of 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. On January 20th the Missionaries came back from a 12-point first half deficit to defeat Whitworth 61-54 in Spokane by holding the Pirates to 7 of 27 shooting in the second half. Cassie Pilkinton led the Bucs with 16 points. The Coach: Helen Higgs continues her 15th season at Whitworth as the winningest women's basketball coach in school history. She has a record of 226-169 during her tenure as the Pirate head coach. Her current winning percentage of .572 is also the best all-time among Pirate head coaches. She has been named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year three times. 2008-09 Women's Basketball Schedule Go to Athletics Home Page > Women's Basketball > Sports Releases > |
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