SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's basketball team will close out the season at home this weekend. The Pirates play Northwest Conference playoff contenders George Fox University on Friday (6:00 pm) and Lewis & Clark College on Saturday (4:00 pm). Friday night's game will be televised on SWX and both will be carried live on KSBN radio 1230 am and on the web at KSBN.net.
Whitworth requires all fans to wear masks at indoor events, regardless of vaccination status. Please plan accordingly. Fans unable to attend the games can find live links on the Whitworth women's basketball schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (9-14 overall, 4-10 NWC) split a pair of games in the Tacoma area last weekend.
The Pirates played one of their most complete games of the season in a 78-71 win on Friday night at Pacific Lutheran. Whitworth never trailed in the game and made 45% (27-60) from the field. The Pirates spread the ball around for 21 assists, a season-high against a conference opponent. Megan Dorney had her best game since returning from injury with 19 points and eight rebounds. Oliva Mayer added 16 points and led the Bucs with nine boards. Madison Hagen had 12 points and Kimberly Dewey finished with 10 as Whitworth earned a season split with the Lutes.
The Pirates fell behind by 17 points after one quarter, rallied to within three in the third and were still as close as five points midway through the fourth quarter before Puget Sound held on to win 76-63 on Saturday night. Whitworth struggled to hit from beyond the arc, finishing 3-16 (18.8%) from three-point range. The Bucs also struggled against the Loggers' press, turning the ball over 24 times. Megan Dorney had 10 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She was the only Pirate in double figures. Dawson Driggs, Tara Kaneshiro, Dewey and Mayer all had nine points each. Puget Sound swept the season series against the Pirates.
The Opponents: After a rough start to the conference schedule, George Fox is 11-11 overall and 7-6 in the NWC. The Bruins currently hold fourth place in the conference standings and are in line for the final NWC tournament berth. GFU will play a makeup game against Pacific on Tuesday night before coming to Spokane. Last weekend the Bruins beat Linfield 61-47 on the road, but lost at home to Willamette 63-57. George Fox does not have a player averaging double figures in scoring, but four Bruins average between 7.9 and 8.8 points per game. Alyssa Wells averages 8.8 ppg and makes 33.1% of her three-pointers. Ella Roberts adds 8.4 ppg and leads the team in assists (51) and steals (30). Both are first-year guards. Whitworth defeated George Fox 72-62 in Newberg on January 22nd for its first road win over the Bruins in seven seasons. Olivia Mayer had 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Lewis & Clark College is 11-12 overall and 6-8 in the NWC heading into a game on Friday night at Whitman College. The Pioneers split last weekend, defeating Willamette 63-56 and losing 62-50 to Pacific (Ore.). L&C is still alive for the final NWC tournament spot, but the Pioneers will likely have to win twice this weekend. Senior forward Delsie Johnson leads the team in scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.0 rpg). Senior guard Peyton Romo adds 10.3 points per game and makes 41.9% of her shots from three-point range. L&C defeated Whitworth 55-50 in Portland on January 21st after the Pirates led by as many as nine points in the second quarter. Mayer finished the game with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
Senior Salute: Whitworth will recognize four seniors prior to the game on Saturday night. Those four seniors are Talia Brandner, Megan Dorney, Quincy McDeid and Taylor Smith.
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.
Dorney Does it: Megan Dorney has developed into Whitworth's leader on the court this season. She leads the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and makes 53.2% of her field goals. All this despite missing the first ten conference games with a knee injury. She returned in limited capacity during the weekend at Linfield and Pacific (Ore.).
Mayer Makes it Happen: Olivia Mayer is having a phenomenal first season at Whitworth, averaging 12.1 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. She also leads the team in steals (27). In just conference games only, her stats are even better. She averages 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game against NWC opponents. She has four of Whitworth's seven double-doubles this year.
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.
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 has been eliminated from contention for the NWC tournament, which will take place on February 24th (semifinals) and 26th (championship) on the campuses of the higher seeds.
