SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University women's basketball team opens the second half of the Northwest Conference schedule at home against Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound this weekend. The Pirates play PLU on Friday (6:00 pm) and UPS on Saturday (4:00 pm). Both games can be heard live on KSBN radio (1230 am) as part of women's-men's doubleheaders.
Check the Whitworth women's basketball schedule for live links to this weekend's action.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Fieldhouse for all fans. Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App. Follow the Tickets link on the schedule for access. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for senior adults, non-Whitworth students and children. Whitworth students, as well as faculty and staff, get free admission by using an ID number.
Alumni Night: All Whitworth alumni and family are invited to Friday's doubleheader vs. PLU. Admission is free for Pirate alums. Follow the link for more info about Alumni Night, including how to get tickets.
The Pirates: Whitworth (6-11 overall, 3-5 NWC) split again last week, losing at Willamette on Friday, but pulling away late for a win at Linfield on Saturday.
The Pirates played the Bearcats close through three quarters, but Willamette outscored Whitworth 23-12 in the fourth period on the way to a 68-54 win over the Bucs. Whitworth was whistled for 18 fouls, which led to 24 free throw attempts for the Bearcats, who made 17. Olivia Mayer finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but only scored two points after halftime when Willamette went to a zone defense. Quincy McDeid scored all 15 of her points in the second half.
It was Whitworth's turn to finish strong on Saturday. The Pirates scored 22 points in the fourth quarter of a 60-53 win at Linfield. Whitworth made 41.4% from the field and controlled the turnovers, committing only nine against the Wildcats. Meanwhile the Pirate defense forced 21 turnovers by Linfield, leading to 22 points off those turnovers. Mayer finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season. Kimberly Dewey added 16 points on 7 for 11 shooting. Mayer and Dewey had three steals apiece on the defensive side.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran comes into the weekend 1-16 overall and 1-7 in the NWC. The Lutes lost to cross-town rival Puget Sound 68-38 on the road last Tuesday and fell to Pacific at home on Saturday 47-37. Lee Adudell continues her first season as head coach of PLU. Her primary weapon is junior forward Ava Edwards, who leads the Lutes in scoring (11.3 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), steals (14) and blocks (10). She makes 35.4% of her three-pointers. Sophomore guard Ashley Akamine adds 10.9 points per game. Whitworth rallied from an early 10-point deficit to beat PLU in Parkland 84-76 on December 3rd. Mayer scored her career-high of 29 points in that game.
Puget Sound has taken a two-game lead in the NWC standings at the halfway point of the conference schedule. The Loggers are 15-2 overall, 8-0 in the NWC heading into a showdown with second place Whitman on Friday. Casey Kushiyama is in his sixth season as head coach at UPS. Junior guard Kennedy Brown averages 13.6 points per game while making nearly 37% of her three-pointers. Senior point guard Katie Minnehan drives the ship, averaging 7.5 points and 3.8 assists. Her 4.2 steals per game leads the NWC by a wide margin. Whitworth hung with UPS for much of the game on December 2nd before falling 89-77 in Tacoma. Quincy McDeid tied Mayer for Pirate scoring honors with 17 points.
McDeid Gets It Done: Quincy McDeid has been a part of the Whitworth starting lineup since her first year. McDeid has started 71 of the 75 games over her four seasons and has never missed a contest in that time. McDeid has averaged double figures in scoring, with a career scoring average of 12.1 points per game. She has 904 points and has a chance to become the 14th player in Pirate women's basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points.
Mayer Makes it Happen: Olivia Mayer is already off to a better start then her phenomenal first season at Whitworth. She leads the Northwest Conference in scoring (18 ppg), leads the league in rebounding (12.1 rpg) and she leads all of NCAA Div. III in double-doubles (15, tied with one other). She has made 62-77 (80.5%) from the free throw line. Mayer is also second in the NWC in blocked shots (1.4 per game) and seventh in steals (1.7 per game). She has been selected as the NWC's student-athlete of the week in women's basketball twice this season.
Last season Mayer averaged 11.8 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game. She led the team in steals (32). In just Northwest Conference games only, her stats were even better with averages 13.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game against NWC opponents. She claimed honorable mention All-NWC recognition.
Pirates picked 6th in 2022-23: Whitworth was sixth in the NWC's preseason coaches poll with 27 points. The Pirates are coming off a seventh place finish in 2021-22 after finishing 10-15 overall and 5-11 in the NWC. Puget Sound (61 points, 5 first place votes) edged Whitman (58 points, 4 first place votes) for first place in the poll.
Don't Foul 'Em: Whitworth is tied for the lead in the Northwest Conference and ranks 41st all of NCAA DIII in team free throw percentage (72.4%).
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 against Walla Walla and California Lutheran 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 eighth 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: Kenny Love is in his first season guiding the Pirate women. He moved over from the men's coaching staff, where he was an assistant coach since 2017 and was involved in all aspects of the men's team operation, including scouting, recruiting, budget management, conditioning and summer camp organization. Love is a former Pirate player who claimed first team All-NWC recognition three times and was the 2015 NWC Player of the Year.
Looking Ahead: Whitworth will travel back to Oregon for games at Pacific (Ore.) and Lewis & Clark next weekend.
