By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash – Whitworth women's basketball begins a string of five non-conference games away from home this weekend with a pair of neutral site games in Walla Walla at the Whitman Classic. The Pirates will take on Colorado College on Friday at 4:00 and Schreiner on Saturday at 2:00.
Check the Whitworth women's basketball schedule for live links to all the 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, or by clicking the link to the tickets page via the Whitworth women's basketball schedule. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 seniors, non-Whitworth students and children. Whitworth students, as well as faculty and staff get free admission by using an ID number.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-5 overall, 0-2 NWC) fell short in a doubleheader of conference openers last weekend, they will be looking to snap a five-game skid this weekend.
Whitworth opened the weekend with a narrow 77-71 loss to Willamette (4-4, 2-0 NWC) who is currently sitting atop the conference after its upset over Whitman. The Pirates stuck around early and outscored the Bearcats in two of the four quarters, but they gave up a 25-9 run in the second quarter which put them in a hole. The Pirates shot 41.7% (52.3% in the fourth quarter) and were opportunistic generating 14 second chance points and 17 points off turnovers. Kimberly Dewey and Mya Edwards led Whitworth with 21 and 17 points in the team's best offensive performance of the season.
On Saturday, Whitworth struggled to keep pace with Pacific who is currently top three in scoring, defense, and 3-point shooting. The Boxers knocked down 9-19 shots from deep on Saturday and hit 59% of their first half attempts as they ran away from Whitworth. It was a forgettable afternoon as Whitworth struggled to generate offense in the 86-47 loss.
The Pirates are scoring 56.7 points per game but defensively they're allowing a conference-most 69.7 points per game. However, Whitworth is averaging 19 turnovers per game (most in the NWC) which has put their defense in tough situations. The Pirates also faced a pair of tough offenses last weekend, Willamette and Pacific are atop the conference in field goal attempts and top three in field goal percentage.
Offensively, Kimberly Dewey has continued to carry the load. Her 15.7 points per game make her the third highest scorer in the conference. Cheyenne Rodgers is scoring 7.2 points per game at a 44% clip.
The Opponents: Colorado College (4-2) of the SCAC conference will be traveling to Walla Walla for the Whitman classic this weekend riding a two-game win streak. The Tigers average 69.7 points per game on 42.6% shooting (31.3% from three), they give up 60.2 per game. They've been excellent on the boards, averaging 45.8 per game compared to 34.3 from their opponents. The Tigers are 4-0 at home but 0-2 on the road this season. Like the Pirates, Colorado College is prone to giveaways (19.3 per game), but they also average 17 takeaways per game. The Tigers have turned it over 22+ times in three of their games but won two of them. Zoe Tomlinson, a 6'2 center, leads the Tigers attack with 16 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. Kayla Mackel has been a nice compliment, averaging 11.5 per game on 41.7% from three (10-24). Colorado College is coached by Katherine Auguste, who's in her seventh year, she's 56-35 in the past four seasons.
Schreiner (2-5 overall, 1-1 SCAC) is leaving Texas for the first time this season and will face Whitworth to wrap up their weekend. The Mountaineers play at a rapid pace, and score 70.2 points per game but they've allowed 84.6 points per game on 41.2% shooting from their opponents. 22 turnovers a game have held back Schreiner despite shooting 40.7% from the field. In an 80-48 loss on Dec. 1, they turned the ball over 30 times, and they've recorded at least 20 turnovers in each of their last five games.
Demauria Miles has been a force for Schreiner, averaging 19.6 points per game at a 40% clip. Miles has knocked down 35% from three and leads the team with 14. Nariyah Buggs and Tianna Murray also average in double figures with 10.2 and 10.1. Schreiner is coached by Stacy Stephens who's in her third season at the helm.
Live or Die by the three: The Pirates offense has turned to the long range shot often. 45% of their total field goals are three-pointers, but to this point they're making just 23% from three (8th in the NWC). The Pirates have attempted 169 three-pointers (2nd most in the NWC) and made just 39 (7th in the NWC). Last weekend the Pirates were 10-54 (18.5%) from deep but shot 34-75 (45.3%) inside the arc.
Getting to the line: The Pirates have attempted the third-most free throws in the NWC (99) and converted on 71.7% of them (T-1st).
The Coach: Kenny Love is in his second season as the Whitworth women's coach. He moved over from the men's coaching staff in 2021, and has been involved in lots of Whitworth's basketball operations since 2017 (scouting, recruiting, budgeting, etc.) Love is a former Pirate who earned first team All-Conference honors three times and was the 2015 NWC Player of the Year.
Looking ahead: Whitworth will continue its non-conference stretch against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Dec. 18 and Occidental on Dec. 20. Both will be played on the road.
