SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University women's basketball team will close out the 2022-23 regular season at home this weekend. The Pirates host Linfield on Friday (6:00 pm) and Willamette 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.
The Pirates: Still alive for a possible NWC playoff spot, Whitworth (9-14 overall, 6-8 NWC) will try to finish the 2022-23 season on a high note and build momentum for next season. The Bucs are coming off split last week.
After a closely contested first quarter, visiting Whitman steadily pulled away for a 67-48 win over Whitworth last Tuesday. Like in the season's first meeting, turnovers were key to the outcome. The Pirates turned the ball over 19 times and the Blues scored 19 points from those turnovers. Otherwise the Bucs played well, making 43% of their shots and finishing with a 32-29 edge in rebounds. Olivia Mayer had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Kimberly Dewey scored ten points. Whitman, tied for first in the NWC, swept the season series from the Bucs.
Whitworth responded with one of its best defensive performances of the season in a 51-44 win at George Fox in Newberg, Oregon. The Pirates limited the Bruins to only two points in the first quarter and forced 14 turnovers from the hosts. Mayer finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Dewey scored 13. Mya Edwards, a mid-season addition to the team, finished with nine points and a season-high 24 minutes. Whitworth swept the regular season series against George Fox for the first time since 2003-04.
The Playoff Picture: Whitworth could still earn a spot in the upcoming NWC tournament. The Pirates would need to win twice this weekend to finish 8-8. Willamette (8-6) would need to lose at Whitman and Whitworth. George Fox (6-8) would need to beat Lewis & Clark and Pacific to create a three-way tie. If that three-way tie occurs, the Pirates would get the tiebreaker based on head-to-head-to-head results (3-1) vs. Willamette (2-2) and Fox (1-3).
The Opponents: Linfield (10-13 overall, 6-8 NWC) comes into the weekend also still alive for a fourth place finish. The Wildcats lost 72-40 at Puget Sound last Friday, then defeated Lewis & Clark 58-45 in their home finale on Saturday. Casey Bunn-Wilson is in her eighth year as head coach at Linfield and she has turned the program back in the right direction after a 1-23 finish in 2021-22. Sophomore center Gillyan Landis is the only Wildcat to average double figures in scoring (10.6 ppg). She makes 50.6% of her shots and averages 7.0 rebounds per game. Six other players average between 4.3 and 6.4 points per contest. Whitworth defeated Linfield 60-53 in McMinnville on January 21st behind 27 points and 11 rebounds by Olivia Mayer.
Willamette (13-10 overall, 8-6 NWC) needs only one win this weekend at Whitman and/or Whitworth to clinch the fourth and final NWC tournament berth. The Bearcats fell 63-61 at Pacific last Friday, but rebounded to defeat PLU 49-38 in their home finale on Saturday. Peg Swadener is in her 11th season as head coach and she has a pair of strong guards leading the way. Carolyn Ho averages 11.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while making 40% of her three-pointers. Megan River adds 10.9 points and 3.4 assists per game. Willamette broke open a close game in the fourth quarter in the first match up against Whitworth this season, winning 68-54 in Salem, Oregon.
McDeid Gets It Done: Quincy McDeid has been a part of the Whitworth starting lineup since her first year. McDeid has started 77 of the 81 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 11.8 points per game. She has 953 points in her career. With two big games this weekend, she can still become the 14th player in Pirate women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.
Mayer Makes it Happen: Olivia Mayer leads the Northwest Conference in scoring (17.7 ppg), leads the league in rebounding (11.5 rpg) and she ranks fourth in all of NCAA Div. III in double-doubles (18). Mayer is also third in the NWC in blocked shots (1.0 per game) and ninth in steals (1.7 per game). She has been selected as the NWC's student-athlete of the week in women's basketball three times 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 came 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.
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: If Whitworth should make it into the NWC tournament, it will take place Feb. 24-25 at either Puget Sound or Whitman.
