Travis gives Pirates extra scoring boost

You may have read recently in these pages about a Whitworth basketball player named Emily, who plays guard, specializes in 3-point shooting, plans to graduate this spring and is also plays for the Pirates’ golf team. Well, there’s one more person matching that description. Emily Travis shares all of those traits with Whitworth teammate Emily Guthrie (“Guthrie has range,” Nov. 28). Better yet, the two Pirates veterans are best friends and rank No. 1 (Travis, 8.9 points per game) and No. 2 (Guthrie, 8.8) on the team in scoring. Although Guthrie has started all 15 Pirates games this season, Travis has shared a starting spot with Kayla Johnson (Colfax), who has made nine of the 15 starts. It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride for Travis, who started all 25 games as a sophomore in 2010-11 while leading Whitworth in 3-point percentage (44.9). The culprit has been an injured left shoulder that limited Travis to three games last season. “Going into (this season) I thought I’d have a starting spot, but Kayla started last year,” Travis said. … “It’s fine as long as I’m getting minutes. Kayla and I can both do well off the bench.” The injury occurred on the golf course during the spring season of Travis’ freshman year. Travis kept playing and helped the team qualify for the Division III national tournament. Travis also played through pain during her sophomore basketball season. She finally had surgery, but her shoulder problems are still an issue. The Pirates shut down Travis after three games last year, thinking she might have nerve issues, and she also skipped fall golf this year. Travis said the time off affected her 3-point shooting, which stands at 37.1 percent. “Missing all of last year … I didn’t feel as confident about my 3-point shot,” said Travis, who put more effort into driving and dishing off the ball. Travis, who is majoring in health sciences and kinesiology, is eligible to return next season because of her redshirt year, but she’s eager to start working toward a master’s in exercise physiology at Eastern Washington or Cal Poly. Travis was part of State 4A championship basketball and golf teams at Lewis and Clark. Her father, Jim, is a longtime teacher and coach at LC. Mom Julie is a sixth-grade teacher at All Saints. The couple met while attending Whitworth. Brother Jim, 32, and sister Sarah, 30, both attended Westmont College of Santa Barbara, Calif. Emily applied to the same school, but she chose Whitworth because Westmont doesn’t have a golf team. Notes: Freshman guard Sarah Barnes (Gonzaga Prep) has returned to Pacific Lutheran’s lineup after missing a month for breaking team rules, coach Kelly Robinson said. Barnes is averaging 5.8 ppg. “We look forward to good things from her the rest of the season,” Robinson said. … Redshirt freshman Abi Quinnett (Moscow High) and junior Ashley Walters have left Idaho’s team because of what coach Jon Newlee described as “medical issues.” Neither is expected to return. … Eastern Washington redshirt freshman Hayley Hodgins followed up a career-high 16 points against Northern Arizona with 10 points against Sacramento State last Saturday. Until the outburst, Hodgins had scored 38 points in her first 12 games. … Central Washington picked up its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win last Saturday as freshman Jasmine Parker (Mead High) had a game-high 11 rebounds during a 60-49 win over Western Oregon.