SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's basketball team returns to Northwest Conference play this weekend when the Pirates host Pacific University (Ore.) and Linfield College. Friday's game against Pacific tips off at 6:00 pm and Saturday's contest vs. Linfield will start at 4:00 pm. Both can be heard live on KSBN 1230 am.
Whitworth requires all fans to wear a mask in the Whitworth Fieldhouse, 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 (5-6 overall, 0-2 NWC) closed out its non-conference schedule with two games at the Kim Evanger Raney Classic, hosted by Whitman, and a game at NCAA Div. II Central Washington.
The Pirates bounced back from a slow start to defeat Colorado College 69-56 in its opener at Whitman's tournament on Dec. 11. After falling behind 21-11 at the beginning of the second quarter, Whitworth took control and outscored the Tigers 58-35 the rest of the way. Megan Dorney posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Quincy McDeid and Kimberly Dewey scored 13 each. Dewey's total was a career high.
Whitworth established season-highs for points, field goal percentage (53.8%) and three-point percentage (61.9) in an 81-66 win over Walla Walla University on December 12th. Olivia Mayer came off the bench for a career-high 21 points to lead the Pirates. Dewey scored 13 points for the second straight game and McDeid added 11 points. Taylor Smith added a career-high nine points off the bench.
Whitworth finished 2021 with an 89-63 loss at Division II Central Washington on December 30th. The Pirates played well in spurts offensively, outside of a five-point third quarter. The host Wildcats made 14-29 from three-point range. Tara Kaneshiro scored a career-high 12 points for the Bucs, while Dewey added 11 and McDeid and Madison Hagen each had ten. Hagen's total was also a career high.
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: Pacific University is 8-3 overall and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference heading into this week. The Boxers were picked second in the NWC preseason poll with one first place vote. Pacific opened NWC play with wins over George Fox and PLU in early December and defeated Illinois Wesleyan 71-65 in its most recent game on December 31st. Senior guard Camy Aguinaldo is a Conference Player of the Year candidate, who averages 21.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. She leads the NWC in scoring and assists. Junior guard Brilie Kovaloff adds 16.4 points per game. Former Pirate assistant Alecia Parker is in her fourth year as head coach of the Boxers. Pacific swept Whitworth during the 2019-20 season, winning 78-67 in Spokane and 82-62 in Forest Grove.
Linfield College hopes a new year equals a fresh start to the season. The young Wildcat squad heads into the week 0-10 overall and 0-2 in the NWC. Linfield lost to Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark to open conference play the first weekend of December and its most recent game was a 64-47 loss at Northwest University on December 10th. Freshman forward Gillyan Landis averages 13.2 points per game, while freshman guard Emma Schmerbach contributes 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest. Whitworth swept Linfield in 2019-20, winning 75-72 at home and 87-75 away, one season after getting swept by the Wildcats.
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).
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 continue at home on January 14-15 with games against Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran.
