SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's basketball team will hit the road this weekend for games at Lewis & Clark College and George Fox University in Oregon. Friday's game at L&C tips off at 6:00 and Saturday's contest against the Bruins starts at 4:00 pm. Both are part of women's-men's Northwest Conference doubleheaders and will be carried live on KSBN radio 1230 am.
Lewis & Clark requires proof of vaccination and wearing of masks to attend any indoor athletic event, while George Fox requires masks, regardless of vaccination status. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend can find live links on the Whitworth women's basketball schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (6-9 overall, 1-5 NWC) picked up its first NWC win of the season on Tuesday.
Olivia Mayer posted her second double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Pirates to an 81-64 win over the visiting Wildcats in a makeup of a game that was originally scheduled for January 8th. After trailing 14-10 through one quarter, Whitworth outscored Linfield 26-10 in the second period to take control of the game. The Bucs shot 49.2% (30-61) from the field and outrebounded the Wildcats 37-28. Whitworth also forced 20 turnovers from the visitors and scored 26 points off those giveaways. Madison Hagen added 12 points, while Quincy McDeid scored 11. Devyn Cope and Tara Kaneshiro each had ten. Mayer and Cope reached scoring career-highs in the game.
Road Trifecta: During its Thanksgiving trip to California, 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: Lewis & Clark is 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the NWC. The Pioneers got in one game last weekend, losing 69-56 at Pacific (Ore.) on January 14th. The other game was postponed by COVID-19 protocols. Senior forward Delsie Johnson, an honorable mention All-NWC honoree in 2019-20, is having a first-team kind of season in 2021-22. She averages 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and has earned NWC women's basketball Student-Athlete of the Week twice this season. Sophomore guard Eva Richards adds 13.2 points and 1.5 steals per contest. Whitworth defeated L&C twice in 2019-20, winning 67-48 at home and 60-57 on the road.
George Fox is 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the NWC heading into Friday night's game against Whitman. The Bruins have been on a COVID pause since Jan. 4, when they defeated Lewis & Clark 67-62 in overtime. GFU is extremely balanced on offense, with eight players averaging between 5.1 and 8.8 points per game. First-year guard Alyssa Wells is the leading scorer, while junior forward Emily Stephens leads her team in rebounding (6.4 rpg). Whitworth split with George Fox in 2019-20, losing 86-76 on the road, but winning 75-69 at home to end a 12-game losing streak to the Bruins.
Dorney Does it: Megan Dorney has developed into Whitworth's leader on the court this season. She leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg) and makes 55% of her field goals. Defensively, she leads the team in steals (13). Unfortunately for the Pirates, Dorney has been out of action with an injury and hasn't played since the Dec. 30 game at Central Washington. Hopes are she will return soon.
Talia's Time: Senior guard Talia Brandner's Pirate career came to an unfortunate end when she suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first half of Whitworth's game against Whitman on December 7th. One of the team's best three-point shooters, Brandner finished her Pirate career making 35.4% from beyond the arc. She totaled 558 points, 175 rebounds and 104 assists in 64 games.
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 play at Whitman College on Tuesday, January 25th before returning home to host Willamette on Friday, January 28th.
