By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's basketball will be out of state this weekend, taking on George Fox on Friday at 6 and Linfield on Saturday at 4. The Pirates will seek to stack a couple more conference wins after earning their first last weekend.
Check the Whitworth women's scheduling page for live links to all the weekend's action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (4-9 overall, 1-3 NWC) picked up its first NWC win of the year in Portland last weekend with a 55-51 win over last-place Lewis & Clark after opening the week with a narrow 58-52 loss to Whitman at home.
The Pirates have leaned heavily on Kimberly Dewey and Zalissa Sanfo, as both have continued to carry the load in scoring and rebounding. Last Tuesday, Dewey and Sanfo combined for 35 of Whitworth's 52 points and 15 of the team's 30 total rebounds during a slim loss to the Blues. After falling behind 46-31 late in the third, Whitworth put together a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to six, and with 6:28 left Cheyenne Rodgers found Dewey for a three that cut Whitman's lead to 48-45. The Pirates fell short of a comeback bid in the final minutes, largely due to Whitman's 49-30 rebounding advantage.
On Friday night, Whitworth pulled out a close road win over Lewis & Clark. Dewey racked up 26 points in that one, hitting several timely shots including seven consecutive to close out the first half and a buzzer beater to end the third quarter which gave Whitworth a six-point lead. In that game, Sanfo posted her fourth double-double of the year and tied the program record of 20 rebounds in a single game for the second time this season. The freshmen center has continued to build on a special season, leading the NWC with a staggering 11.7 boards per game (nearly three more per game than anyone else in the conference), which ranks her 25th in the nation for Division III. The freshman is currently accounting for 30.3% of all Whitworth rebounds (152 of 496).
Dewey is averaging 17.3 points per game to lead the team after a big scoring output last week. That total also puts her back at the top of the conference, over Whitman's Korin Baker who's averaging 17.2 per game.
As a team, Whitworth is averaging 57.6 points a game (t-6th in NWC) on 33.7% shooting, but they're giving up 64.5 a game defensively (t-8th). The Pirates are knocking down 26% from deep, an improvement since the start of the year, but they've attempted 320 threes (3rd-highest in the NWC).
The Opponents: George Fox (1-10 overall, 1-3 NWC) will host Whitworth on Friday night riding an eight-game losing streak, their lone win was at Lewis & Clark on Dec. 1st.
The Bruins are averaging 54.9 points per game (8th in NWC) while giving up 64.5 (t-8th). The Bruins have attempted a conference-low 181 threes but have hit 30.2% from deep, however they've allowed a conference-high 32.9% from deep. In short, the Bruins are giving up a lot of threes and not trying many themselves.
George Fox also averages a conference-worst 19.5 turnovers per game, averaging about two turnovers per assist this season. They also rank last in the conference in total rebounds per game (33) while allowing a conference-high of 41 rebounds.
Despite these struggles, the Bruins have a knack for staying close in games. Four of their losses have been by four points or less, including a 61-58 loss to PLU and 69-66 loss to Pacific last week. (The Pirates lost to Pacific 86-47 in December).
Alyssa Wells and Erin Yoshitake lead the Bruins with 10.7 and 10.3 points per game and are tied for a team-high 21 assists. Both have played in all 11 games, but Wells has started in just two, making her production all the more impressive. Lauren Howard is in her first year coaching at George Fox, she came from Howard University and helped them to the NCAA tournament.
Whitworth has won two straight over George Fox, and four of the last five. They haven't lost in Newburg since 2019.
Linfield (7-6 overall, 2-2 NWC) is looking to rebound after a tough pair of losses to first-place Willamette and Puget Sound last week.
The Wildcats rank in the middle of the pack on both sides, scoring 62.8 per game and allowing 63.2. They've shot 38.8% from the field this season (25.5% from three) while holding opponents to 36.5%. Linfield has struggled from behind the arc, hitting just 71 threes on 278 attempts (8th in the NWC). They've taken care of the ball reasonably well, just 11.8 turnovers a game, but they've been excellent on the boards averaging 40.7 rebounds per game. Part of this is due to the tempo they play with, they give up 35.7 rebounds a game (4th in the NWC).
Gillyan Landis leads the 'Cats with 11.8 points per game at 43.9% clip, Eve Burke is second in scoring and rebounding with 10.2 and 6.6 per game. Ella Koebelin has been Linfield's distributor with 40 assists (7th in the NWC, and 13 more than any other Wildcat).
Linfield is coached by Casey Bunn-Wilson, a former European pro in women's basketball. She's in her ninth season with the Wildcats. Whitworth has won two straight and five of the last six over Linfield.
Rookie of the Year? Freshman Zalissa Sanfo has anchored Whitworth inside the paint all season. She's started all 13 games and leads the team with 399 minutes, and her impact is well-documented. Sanfo is the NWC leader in rebounds (152) which is 38 more than anyone else, and currently 25th in the nation in total rebounds. Sanfo has posted four double-doubles, and has the three highest single-game rebound totals in the conference with 20, 20, and 18.
Dewey time: The senior guard is stacking up the buckets in what could be her final year. Dewey leads the NWC with 17.3 points per game, scoring 20+ in five. She leads the Pirates with 24 threes (doubling the next highest total), shooting 33.3% from deep. Dewey came up clutch during Whitworth's win over L&C knocking down several big shots to help Whitworth pull out their first conference win of the season.
Don't forget Mya Edwards: Edwards has steadily been doing it all for the Pirates. She's currently third in scoring (7.4 per game), second in rebounding (6.3) and the team leader in total assists (29). Edwards has started in all 13 games and is third on the team in total minutes (377).
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 return home next week to host Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound in a duo of East versus West battles.
