Pirates play for berths

The Whitworth Pirates men’s and women’s basketball teams both play tonight for automatic berths into the Division III NCAA tournament.

The men’s team (21-5, 14-2) is host to the Puget Sound Loggers (15-11, 10-6) at 7 at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The No. 15 Pirates beat Lewis & Clark 87-62 Thursday night to advance to tonight’s final against UPS. In two previous meetings this year, Whitworth beat UPS 60-49 at home on Jan. 11 and 84-74 on Feb. 7 in Tacoma.

The Whitworth women’s team beat George Fox 74-55 Thursday to advance to the tournament final tonight at 7 against Whitman College (26-0, 16-0) in Walla Walla.

The Pirates (19-7, 12-4) lost two previous games to the Missionaries, a 62-57 setback on Jan. 21, and an 84-69 loss at home on Feb. 18.

Whitman is ranked No. 1 in the country by D3hoops.com Top 25.