By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's basketball hits the road again this weekend to visit George Fox on Friday at 5:30pm and Lewis & Clark on Saturday at 3:00pm.
Check the Whitworth women's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-12 overall, 0-4 NWC) couldn't come away with a win last week against a pair of top conference opponents.
The Pirates fell 74-39 at Whitman in this season's first Battle of Whits on Tuesday. The Blues jumped ahead early and never gave up their lead. Whitworth was held to 25.5% (14-55) shooting and made two of 14 three-point attempts (14.3%). Ava DePew led the Bucs with 10 points and eight rebounds. Ashlyn Peterson scored six points and dished six assists.
On Saturday, Whitworth couldn't overcome Linfield disruptive defense in a 59-39 loss. The Pirates grabbed an 18-14 advantage after one quarter, but nine turnovers in the second quarter prevented the Bucs from pushing out their lead. The Wildcats capitalized, taking a 28-24 into halftime before outscoring the Pirates 20-6 in the third quarter to take control. Whitworth shot 34% (17-50) from the field and finished with 24 turnovers. Peterson led the Bucs with 14 points while DePew added seven rebounds and four assists.
Leading the Way: Sophomore point guard Ashlyn Peterson is following up her 2024-25 NWC Rookie of the Year campaign with another standout season. Peterson currently leads the conference in scoring (16.6 ppg) and is second in both three-point field goals made per game (2.1) and total three-pointers (27). For the second consecutive season, she also leads the conference in minutes per game (34.5).
Stat Sheet Stuffer: Pirate guard Ava DePew is making a big impact as a first-year Pirate. She currently leads the conference in rebounds per game (8.7), while leading the team in assists (2.9) and steals (1.2) per game.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's home and Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $108 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
Inland Northwest Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bud Nameck, familiar in Spokane as the KXLY channel 4 sports director for over 20 years and the longtime host of the KXLY 920am Morning News, is in his 11th season as the voice of the Pirates in 2025. He was the voice of Washington State University men's basketball for 22 years and spent that same amount of time on the Cougar football broadcasts – the final three on play by play. He is a longtime resident of the Inland Northwest who began his career as the Sports Information Director and radio voice of Gonzaga University basketball and baseball in the 1980s.
Listen to Road Games: Fans can tune in online and listen to Pirate road games for free at WhitworthPirates.com. Bud Nameck will provide play by play when Whitworth is away from the Fieldhouse.
The Opponents: George Fox heads into Friday's matchup with a 7-6 overall record and 3-1 mark in the NWC. The Bruins rank fifth in the conference in scoring (60.6 ppg) and fourth in defense (55.8 ppg). GFU gets to the rim and does not attempt many three-pointers, resulting in a conference best 42.8 field goal percentage. Junior guard and first team All-NWC player Hanne Hopkins leads the Bruins with 13.8 points per game and paces the conference with 5.1 assists per game. Senior Mia Skoro is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game while Kylie Ritter leads the team in rebounding (6.1). Whitworth dropped both of its matchups against George Fox last season.
Lewis & Clark sits at 3-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play heading into this weekend. The River Otters will host Northwest Indian College on Tuesday and Whitman on Friday prior to Saturday's game against the Pirates. L&C averages 64.9 points per game, second best in the conference, despite a conference-low 33.3 field goal percentage. The scoring comes much in part to their ability to get to the free throw line, taking an average of 21.3 attempts per game while making 75.4% of them, both conference-highs. The River Otters are led by junior Lauren Frederickson who leads the team with 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore Caitlen Carns is second on the team in points (11.2) and leads in assists (2.7) per game. Whitworth took down L&C by double digits in both meetings last season.
Young Bucs: For the second consecutive season, the Whitworth women do not have a senior on their roster. Of the 15 players, 12 are freshmen or sophomores. Led by a strong young core, the Bucs have significant experience to build from as they look to take another jump this season.
The Coach: Kenny Love is in his fourth 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 28-60 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.
Up Next: Whitworth will wrap up the first half of NWC play back at Whitworth Fieldhouse against Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran on January 23rd and 24th.
