SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's basketball team will open the 2021-22 Northwest Conference schedule at Willamette University on Saturday followed by a home game against Whitman College on Tuesday. Tuesday's game will be televised regionally on SWX and both games will be carried live on KSBN radio 1230 am.
Willamette will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry into Cone Fieldhouse. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend can find live links on the Whitworth women's basketball schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (3-3) went 3-0 during a trip to California over Thanksgiving break to even its record.
The Pirates used a hot start to defeat Whittier 66-57 on Wednesday. Whitworth took a 13-6 lead after the first quarter and a 28-15 lead at halftime. After the Poets rallied to get within on point on three occasions in the fourth quarter, the Pirates got key baskets from Megan Dorney and Quincy McDeid down the stretch for the win. McDeid led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds. Macey Morales had nine points and four assists off the bench.
Whitworth used another fast start at Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, turning a 26-14 first quarter into an 81-61 victory. The Pirates' best offensive performance of the season was fueled by 46% shooting from the field and 50% accuracy (9-18) from three-point range. Dorney led three Whitworth players in double figures with 16 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. Olivia Mayer had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for career highs in both. Talia Brandner had 11 points off the bench.
Whitworth closed the trip on Saturday with a hard-fought 58-53 win at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Pirates took a nine-point lead in the opening seconds of the third quarter before the Athenas outscored them 16-5 over the rest of the period. Trailing 41-39 entering the final quarter, Whitworth outscored CMS 19-12. Dorney had 12 points, McDeid scored ten and Mayer added nine off the bench. Dorney and Mayer had six rebounds each while Morales dished six assists.
Road Trifecta: Whitworth won three true road games in a row for the first time since the Pirates won their first six road games in a row on the way to a 14-0 start during the 2014-15 season.
The Opponents: Whitworth will open its NWC schedule on Saturday night at Willamette. The Bearcats are 5-3 heading into a game on Friday night against Whitman. Willamette joined Whitworth at the David Wells Classic in Claremont, California last weekend and the Bearcats won twice, defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (54-51) and Pomona-Pitzer (68-64). Willamette is extremely balanced offensively with four players averaging between 9.0 and 10.0 points per game. Sophomore forward Ava Kitchen leads the team in scoring (10.0 ppg) and adds 5.3 rebounds per contest. Whitworth and Willamette last met in the 2019-20 season. Each won on the other's home court that year, the Bearcats winning 85-72 in Spokane and the Pirates winning 80-75 in Salem, Ore.
Whitman heads into Friday's game at Willamette 5-0 and ranked second nationally in both the WBCA and D3hoops.com top-25 polls. The Blues last played Nov. 20 and 22 in Texas, defeating Austin College 89-51 and UT-Dallas 71-60. Junior forward Kaylie McCracken is putting up All-American kind of numbers, averaging 20 points and 9.2 rebounds while making nearly 60% of her field goals and over 90% of her free throws. Sydney Abbott, a former Pirate, adds 10.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 3.1 assists per game. Whitworth and Whitman played only two of the four scheduled contests in 2020-21, and both were in Walla Walla. The Pirates upset the 6th-ranked Blues 61-58 in the first game to end an eight-game losing streak to Whitman. Whitworth rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to tie, but then fell 60-58 in the second contest.
Dorney Does it: Megan Dorney has developed into Whitworth's leader on the court this season. She leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg) and makes 58.3% of her field goals. Defensively, she leads the team in steals (6).
NWC Preseason Poll: Whitworth is fifth in the NWC preseason coaches poll this season with 33 points. The Pirates just missed the conference playoffs in fifth position in both 2019 and 2020. There was no conference tournament in 2021 due to Covid-19. Whitman leads the poll with eight first place votes and 64 points. Pacific (Ore.) is second with one first place vote and 50 points.
NCAA Championship is Back: The NCAA Division III tournament is back in 2021-22 after getting cancelled last season. The first two rounds will take place March 4-5 on campus sites, as will the rounds of 16 and 8 on March 11-12. The Division III final four will be held at the A.J. Palumbo Center March 18-19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
On the Air Again: Many of Whitworth's games are once again carried live this season on KSBN 1230am in Spokane. The broadcast schedule includes non-conference games in California and all Northwest Conference contests. The relationship between Pirate athletics and KSBN goes back to 1994, a span of more than 25 years. Bud Nameck is in his seventh season as the voice of Whitworth basketball. Nameck has more than 30 years of experience calling college basketball at Gonzaga University and Washington State.
The Coach: Joial Griffith is in her fourth season as the women's basketball coach at Whitworth University in 2021-22. She has guided the Pirates to a record of 31-27 in her two years, including two fourth place finishes in the Northwest Conference and a 4-4 mark during the COVID-19 schedule of 2020-21. Griffith took over for long-time Whitworth head coach Helen Higgs, who resigned after 24 seasons as the winningest coach in Pirate women's basketball history. Griffith spent one season with the Williams (Mass.) Ephs' women's basketball program. Prior to her year at Williams, she was the assistant coach at Claremont-Scripps-Colleges in Southern California, near where she grew up. The Athenas made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances during her two seasons, finishing 20-9 in 2017 and 23-6 in 2016.
Looking Ahead: Whitworth will travel to Walla Walla for the Kim Evanger Raney Classic on December 11-12. The Pirates will take on Colorado College and Walla Walla University.
