By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University women's basketball team will close the 2025 season with a pair of tough road tests. The Pirates will play at Whitman on Tuesday (8:00pm) before heading to Linfield on Saturday (6:00pm). Both games are scheduled as the second half of men's-women's doubleheaders.
Check the Whitworth women's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (8-15 overall, 5-9 Northwest Conference) dropped two games last weekend.
The Pirates lost a battle with Pacific 72-66 on Friday night. The Bucs started strong and went up 9-6 after a three-point play from Alex Goetz. The Boxers responded with a 7-0 run then extended their lead in the second quarter with back-to-back shots from distance. Whitworth scored seven unanswered to trim the lead before trailing 31-26 at halftime. The Pirates cut the lead to three several times in the third quarter, but Pacific went on a 20-6 run over six minutes of game time to take a 60-43 lead with 6:50 to play. Whitworth fought hard and shrunk the lead to five with 19 seconds remaining, but it would not be enough. Mya Bair set career highs in both points (19) and rebounds (15) to lead the Pirates. Ashlyn Peterson scored 15 to go with six rebounds. The Bucs shot 36.4% (24-66) from the field.
Whitworth fell 75-62 to George Fox on Saturday. The Pirates again started strong and outscored the Bruins 19-15 in the first quarter. GFU scored nine unanswered points to open the second quarter, but the Bucs withstood the run and went to halftime down 34-32. Whitworth hit a slump in the third quarter and scored just 10 points in the period. Despite the shooting struggles, GFU led by just six heading into the final frame. The Pirates scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins turned up the intensity and put up a 27-point quarter to pull away. Whitworth shot 35% from the field and made all 16 free throw attempts. Alex Goetz scored a season-high 20 points and Ashlyn Peterson put up 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Opponents: Sixth ranked Whitman (22-1, 14-0 NWC) hosts Whitworth looking to close the last week of the season with a perfect conference record. The Blues narrowly took down George Fox 68-65 last Friday and handled Pacific 80-56 on Saturday. Whitman is the top team in the conference in both scoring offense (70.3) and defense (49.2) while having an average scoring margin of 22.6 against conference opponents. They are led by seniors Korin Baker and Carly Martin, the top two scorers in the conference. Baker averages 19.6 points per game and 8.4 rebounds while Martin puts up 16.3 points and 3.5 assists. Whitworth has lost the last eight matchups with Whitman dating back to 2021.
Linfield (18-5, 9-5 NWC) hosts Whitworth after an 80-74 upset loss to Lewis & Clark on Saturday. The Wildcats defeated Willamette on Friday 54-45 and are 2-2 in their last four games. Linfield is second to Whitman in both points scored (64.9) and points allowed (55.1) on the season but rank fourth in offense during conference play (62.7 ppg). Rebounding could be a key to the game, as Whitworth leads the conference in team rebounds against conference opponents (39), however the Wildcats have a significant advantage in rebound margin (8.7 margin difference). Four Linfield players average double figures scoring numbers, led by senior center Gillyan Landis (11.8). Sophomore Allie Mead leads the conference with 4.2 assists per game and junior wing Miki Vermeulen averages a team-high 6.7 rebounds. The Wildcats have won just two of the last seven meetings with the Pirates, but took down Whitworth 76-59 on January 24th this season.
NWC Standings: Whitman (14-0) remains undefeated in conference play and sits atop the standings. Linfield, Goerge Fox, and Puget Sound are all 9-5 and will compete in the NWC Tournament. Pacific, Pacific Lutheran, Whitworth and Willamette sit at 5-9 while Lewis & Clark round out the bottom at 2-12.
From Downtown: The Pirates have not been shy putting up shots from beyond the arc this season. The Bucs average 24 three-point attempts per game, ranking second in the NWC. They are making these shots at a 27.7% clip and their 6.7 three-point field goals made per game rank second in the NWC. Alex Goetz leads the Pirates with 36 made shots from beyond the arc and Ashlyn Peterson is close behind with 35.
The Charity Stripe: In NWC games this season, the Pirates have gotten to the free throw line at an impressive rate. During this stretch, Whitworth has shot 270 free throws, eight more than the next team and made 213 of them, 23 more than the team below them. Their 76.4 season team free-throw percentage ranks first in the conference and 11th in Division III. Whitworth's effectiveness at the charity stripe may be a key to upcoming conference matchups.
Lone Vet: With the Pirates' new look roster, junior guard Mya Bair is the only player to have previously started a game in a Whitworth uniform. Bair started 24 of 25 games for the Pirates in the 2023-24 season while putting up 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Her energy, effort and experience show on both sides of the ball while leading a fresh team looking to make its mark. This season, she is stuffing the stat sheet, averaging nine points, a team-leading 8.4 rebounds (tied second in the NWC), 2.9 assists (seventh in the NWC), one block (tied sixth in the NWC) and 1.7 steals (tied seventh in the NWC) per game. Bair put up a career-high 19 points and 15 rebounds against Pacific on February 14th.
The Maestro: Ashlyn Peterson has shown her ability to orchestrate the offense in an impactful freshman season. Peterson's 81 total assists and 3.5 assists per game rank third in the NWC. Along with her ability to distribute, she is fourth in the NWC in scoring and leads the Pirates with 14.4 points per game. Her 1.7 steals per game match Mya Bair for seventh in the conference and she is third in free throw percentage (.815). She has been the top scorer for the Pirates in 11 of 23 games this season and rarely comes off the court, leading the conference in minutes per game (35.7).
Tune in: Whitworth's home women's basketball games are streamed live at whitworthpirates.com from the "watch link" for home games and the "listen link" for road games on the women's basketball schedule page. Pirate basketball games are called by Bud Nameck who is in his tenth season as the voice of Whitworth basketball. An Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Famer, Nameck has more than 30 years of experience calling college basketball at Gonzaga University and Washington State.
The Coach: Kenny Love is in his third season as the Whitworth women's basketball coach. He moved over from the men's coaching staff in 2021 where he was an assistant coach since 2017. Love has a career head coaching record of 27-46 at Whitworth. Love himself is a former Pirate player who earned first team All-NWC recognition three times and was the 2015 NWC Player of the Year.
Looking ahead: Whitworth will open its 2025-2026 season next November. Check www.whitworthpirates.com for schedule information.
