SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth University opens the 2008-09 women's basketball season this week in beautiful Hawaii with high hopes for a succesful campain. The Pirates return tkey starters from last season's 13-12 team and are picked a close second in this year's Northwest Conference preseason coaches poll.

Whitworth will begin the schedule on Thursday at Chaminade, followed by Friday's game at BYU-Hawaii and concluding with Saturday's contest at Hawaii Pacific. All are NCAA Division II members.

Alida Bower

The Pirates: Whitworth returns three starters and five letterwinners from 2007-08 when the Bucs finished 13-12 overall and 8-8 in the Northwest Conference. Senior forward Alida Bower (Onalaska, Wash.) was a First Team All-NWC selection and junior guard Natalie Orrell (Wenatchee, Wash.) was an honorable mention All-NWC honoree. Tiffany Corigliano (Sr., P, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) and Liz Horiatis (So., P, Woodinville, Wash.) shared time in the post last year, while Leah Pomante (Jr., G, Colbert, Wash.) played valuable minutes as a back up point guard.

Jamie Scott (Sr., F, Tacoma, Wash.) was a key reserve in 2006-07, but missed all of last season with a shoulder injury. She is back with the Pirates this season.

Several newcomers should make an immediate impact for Whitworth. Cassie Pilkinton (Jr., F, Chelan, Wash.) was a starter at North Idaho College last season. Ren Mallory (Jr., G, Spokane, Wash.) started for the Community Colleges of Spokane last winter and won a state championship at Lewis & Clark High School. Similarly, Kim Bluff (Jr., G, Cusick, Wash.) won a state "B" title at Cusick High School before a strong two seasons at Big Bend Community College. Heather Burke (Jr., G, Cheney, Wash.) was a teammate of Bluff's and team captain for BBCC last winter.

Pacific Bound: The Pirate women's team has never been to our 50th state.

NWC Coaches Poll: Whitworth finished second in the 2008 NWC coaches preseason poll. The Pirates finished just behind Whitman in the voting.

Bower-ful: Alida Bower was named First Team All-Northwest Conference last season, despite missing games early in the year with a knee injury. She led the team in scoring (13.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.1 rebounds per game) and made nearly 40% of her three point attempts. She was a Second Team All-NWC selection as a sophomore after transferring to Whitworth from St. Martin's University following her freshman season.

Nifty Natalie: Natalie Orrell was an honorable mention All-NWC choice last winter after finishing second on the team in scoring average (12.6 ppg). She made 47% of her shots from the floor and averaged 4.1 rebounds per game.

The Opponents: Chaminade is off to an 0-2 start after dropping a pair of games at Hawaii-Hilo last weekend. Junior guard Samantha Saito led the Silverswords with 37 points in the two contests.

BYU-Hawaii will open its season against Whitworth. The Seasiders finished 5-21 last season. Sophomore guard Richelle Fenenbock averaged 13.5 points per game as a freshman.

Hawaii Pacific is coming off of an 8-19 season and has 10 new players and only two returning players on its roster. One of the returnees is senior center Angela Spence, who averaged 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds last year.

The Coach: Helen Higgs begins her 15th season at Whitworth as the winningest women's basketball coach in school history. She has a record of 214-160 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.