By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's basketball returns home this weekend to host a pair of west side schools. The Pirates open the weekend against Puget Sound on Friday night at 6:00 and they finish it off against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday at 4:00.
Whitworth versus Puget Sound will be televised live on SWX but be sure to check the Whitworth women's scheduling page for live link to all the weekend's action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (5-10 overall, 2-4 NWC) split a pair of road games last week as they salvaged a 73-64 loss to George Fox on Friday with a 61-57 win over Linfield. They've won two of their last three conference games and head into this week sixth in the NWC.
Friday night against the Bruins was sluggish at times, the Pirates shot just 3-16 in the first quarter and 3-13 in the third quarter as they struggled to erase an early deficit. After trailing most of the night, Whitworth cut the deficit to 59-57 on a three from Sydney McLean, but the comeback bid fell short in the end after an 8-1 run from the Bruins. Zalissa Sanfo led the team with 14 points in that one, Kimberly Dewey scored her season-low (7 points) on just 2-16 from the field in the loss. Whitworth as a team shot 33% (17-51) and 5-13 from three.
Whitworth rebounded on Saturday however, pulling off a gritty win over Linfield to extend their win streak to three over the Wildcats. Dewey found her groove in the second half, scoring 17 of her 21 points. The Pirates clung to a 58-57 lead with 15 seconds left and needed a stop to preserve the win. Cheyenne Rodgers came up with a steal on the inbound and raced down the court, her layup glanced off the rim, but Dewey cleaned up the miss through contact. She knocked down the and-one to finish off a perfect night from the stripe (4-4) and give Whitworth a 61-57 lead with eight seconds left. Whitworth shot 36.7% from the field (42.1% from deep), they finished plus 10 in turnovers (15-5) to overcome a minus 18 on the boards (46-28). Sanfo, the conference leader in rebounds only grabbed two (her career-low).
The Opponents: The Puget Sound Loggers (10-5 overall, 4-2 NWC) are currently fourth in the conference standings after falling at home to Willamette on Friday. The Loggers are 27-5 in the conference over the past two seasons, and they've won four straight over Whitworth.
Puget Sound leads the NWC in scoring (68.7 points per game), 3-pointers (129), 3-point percentage (32.7%), and turnover margin (4.27). They cause opponents to turn the ball over 21.7 times per game, which leads the league. The Loggers are third in points allowed (58.7), second in free throw percentage (73.5%), total rebounds (40.6) and offensive rebounds (16.5). Generating turnovers and hitting threes are crucial to the Loggers' success this season as they're just sixth in total field goal percentage (38%). Yet they've maintained the highest scoring output of any team in the league. Kennedy Brown leads the Loggers in scoring for the third straight season with 14.2 points per game (fifth in the NWC). She also leads the team with 33 threes on 32% from deep. Paige Gerhart leads Puget Sound with 56 assists and she's second in rebounding (6.5 per game). Freshman Autumn Hill holds down the post with a conference-leading 50 blocks and 6.1 rebounds per game. Puget Sound is coached by Casey Kushiyama who's in his seventh season.
Pacific Lutheran (9-6 overall, 1-5 NWC) has struggled in conference play thus far after going 8-1 through their non-conference schedule. The Lutes come into the weekend riding a three-game losing streak, and they're tied with Lewis & Clark for last in the conference. They've lost three straight to Whitworth.
The Lutes have struggled offensively, they're eighth in the league in scoring (56.5), and are shooting 38.2% from the field. However, they shoot 32.4% from deep (105-324) which ranks second only behind Puget Sound. The Lutes have also been sound defensively, giving up just 54.4 points per game (61.1 to NWC opponents). They're second in the league in opponent field-goal percentage (54.4%) and fourth in defensive three point percentage (27.4%). They average the third-fewest turnovers per game (16) and are fourth in turnover margin (-0.4). Sydney Reisner and Brandie Tobin have been key to the Lutes' attack; Reisner leads the team with 12.4 points per game while shooting 44.1% from three (30-68) which leads the entire conference. Tobin leads the team with 59 assists which is second in the NWC and 40 more than any other PLU player. The Lutes are coached by Lee Aduddell who's in her third season; she's seeking to lead PLU to its first winning season since 2018 and its first winning record in the NWC since 2008.
Block Party: Zalissa Sanfo is eighth in the nation in blocks per game (3.3). She's racked up 49 blocks total this season, but trails Autumn Hill of Puget Sound by one block. The two freshmen will meet on Friday night when Whitworth hosts the Loggers.
Glass Clean up: Sanfo has been dominant for Whitworth on the glass this season averaging 10.7 rebounds per game to lead the Northwest Conference. Sanfo's 161 rebounds account for 28.7% of Whitworth's total rebounds.
Top Scorers: Kimberly Dewey is second in the NWC with 16.6 points per game. All season she's gone back and forth with Whitman's Korin Baker who leads the conference with 17.3 points per game. Dewey is also 10th in 3-point percentage (32.5%), third in free throw percentage (84.5%), and has racked up six games with 20+ points.
Consistency is key: Dewey, Sanfo, and Mya Edwards are in the NWC's top 20 in minutes played. Each has started in all 15 games this season; Dewey has played 456 minutes (30.4 per game, 13th in the NWC), Sanfo has played 440 minutes (29.3, 15th in the NWC), and Edwards has played 437 minutes (29.1, 16th in the NWC). They are also Whitworth's top three scorers and rebounders.
The Coach: Kenny Love is in his second season as the Whitworth women's head coach. He moved over from the men's staff in 2021, and before that was involved in lots of Whitworth's basketball operations including scouting, recruiting, budgeting, and youth camps. 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 be on the road against the NWC's top two teams, facing Pacific on Jan. 26 and Willamette on Jan. 27.
