Kevin Blocker

Whitworth's Nate Dunham has been selected Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges player of the week for his efforts in the Pirates' 74-63 win against Carroll College on Friday night. Dunham, a 6-foot-6 forward from Almira, Wash., registered 16 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots in 29 minutes against the Fighting Saints. The Pirates have jumped to a 6-1 start, and much of that has been due to the consistent play of Dunham.

WSU's Jen Kerns looks for a teammate to break free while facing the defensive pressure of Eastern's Shana Ray on Friday night in Cheney. WSU won, 86-66. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Remember this for future reference because it might be worth a prize at an Idaho women's basketball game: Vandals redshirt freshman Lara Chaney wears size 14 men's shoes. Chaney is Idaho's 6-foot-7 center from Richmond, Calif. She was 5-3 in kindergarten and, when high school started, she was 6-2 and weighed just under 300 pounds. By the time she finished, however, she was a lean 230.

Washington State women's basketball coach Harold Rhodes and Idaho coach Julie Holt were hopping mad after their teams met Tuesday night at Idaho's Memorial Gym. WSU won the game with .1 of a second left when Jade Hyett made her second free throw in a two-shot foul situation to give the Cougars a 72-71 win.

Depending on the availability of Central Washington center John Greer, Whitworth may or may not have its hands full tonight against the Wildcats at Ellensburg. Greer, a 6-foot-7 center was scheduled for an MRI on his left knee Thursday. Depending on the results, Greer may miss two to three weeks, according to Central coach Greg Sparling. Without him, the Wildcats (5-2) will suit up just eight players against Whitworth (3-1). Greer is averaging a team-high 21.7 points and 10 rebounds a game while shooting close to 70 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

Women's basketball notes Eastern Washington coach Heidi VanDerveer would have loved to have watched Washington play Gonzaga Wednesday night at GU given the fact that her Eagles head to Seattle Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest against the Huskies. However, NCAA rules prohibit coaches from scouting opponents live, so some of her players went instead. But even if she were there, VanDerveer realizes that what she might have seen from Washington Wednesday isn't what she and her team will face Saturday.

Oral Roberts' Zvjezdana Sirola awaits smash by WSU's Keren Oigman in Golden Eagles' three-game sweep of Cougars. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review

Kelly Gaines has the drive to help the Community Colleges of Spokane women's basketball team seek another NWAACC regional championship. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Eastern Washington's Kristy Missall did the damage to Gonzaga inside, and then teammate Tina Smith came along and did damage outside as the Eagles beat the Bulldogs 60-50 Thursday night at Reese Court. The win gave Eastern its first victory of the year against two losses, while Gonzaga fell to 1-3. Banging away inside, Missall finished with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds and Smith scored all her 12 points in the second half, allowing Eastern to pull away from a 23-23 halftime tie.

1. Fredrick 2. Hilbert

Opponents can't afford to overlook Whitworth forward Nate Dunham. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

In the fast and furious whirlwind that is North Idaho College basketball, the Spokane Sasquatch looked like mere dust granules caught in a wind storm Friday night. NIC's 94-72 win at Spokane Community College wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Sherri Northington, left, gives the Whitworth Pirates a lift. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

In Whitworth's season-opening win Monday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse, Pirates basketball coach Warren Friedrichs said his team struggled offensively. Well, if scoring 82 points is struggling, Friedrichs clearly has some lofty ambitions for the 1995-96 season. Whitworth battered Northwest College 82-56. "We didn't shoot the ball very well," Friedrichs said. "I thought we struggled offensively; defensively though, the effort was there."

EWU's Kristy Missall is ready to take off in her senior season. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Community Colleges of Spokane volleyball coach Irene Matlock and her team are going to Disneyland. Well, the Sasquatch are actually headed to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Championship Tournament to defend their 1994 title at Gresham, Ore. The tournament runs Thursday through Saturday. CCS defeated Columbia Basin College at Spokane Falls last Friday 15-9, 15-4, 15-5 to secure the East Region's No. 1 seed to the tournament.

McQuilkin

The Whitworth Pirates were defeated 23-6 by the Linfield Wildcats Saturday at the soggy Whitworth Pine Bowl. With the loss, the Pirates finished the season with an overall record of 1-8 and 0-5 in the Mt. Hood League. So while it may look like just another bad football season for the Pirates, a deeper perspective must be taken in analyzing the Pirates' future - which actually looks good. "We're disappointed, but we're not discouraged," first-year Pirates coach John Tully said. "This team continued to play hard all year long. In order to turn a program around, that's what you need."

With a win on Saturday, the Whitworth Pirates will finish the season undefeated and will head into the NCAA Division III football playoffs with the No. 1 ranking in the country. Pirates head coach John Tully, this year's coach of the year, said his team is ready for this week's showdown between it and No. 2-ranked Western Washington at the Whitworth Pine Bowl. . . . Wouldn't that be cool?

The next two weeks will determine what the Washington State volleyball team is made of. Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum, the 10th-ranked Cougars (10-4 Pac-10, 18-4 overall) host Oregon (1-13, 8-17) and then host Oregon State (5-9, 11-13) at 8 p.m. at Bohler Gym on Saturday. They will most likely do so without the services of All-American candidate Sarah Silvernail who was diagnosed with a viral stomach infection earlier this week. WSU coach Cindy Fredrick said she will start former Davenport star freshman Jennifer Stinson in her place.

Baxter

Even though the Whitworth Pirates are 0-3 in the Mount Hood League and 1-6 overall, linebacker and team captain Jeff Baxter said the team and coaching staff hasn't lost its sense of humor. As daylight and degrees have dwindled, the 13 players on the Whitworth roster from Hawaii have had a tough time adapting to the freezing temperatures. Whitworth defensive coordinator Chris Casey has had a little bit of fun at their expense. "All week long, the Hawaiians have whined about how cold it is," Baxter said. "(Wednesday) Coach Casey is checking out the blue sky just before sunset and says to some of them, 'See, look at this nice blue sky. It's just like Hawaii. Blue sky, blue water. . . '

The immediate challenge for the Whitworth football team is not so much finding a way to score as it is finding a way to keep opposing defenses from scoring off the Pirates' turnovers. At the bottom of this week's press release from the Whitworth sports department, an ominous note can be found: "Whitworth has given up five defensive touchdowns this season (two vs. Simon Fraser, three vs. Willamette); research indicates that has never happened before..."

The Arizona Wildcats' volleyball team infected Washington State like a flu strain Saturday night. Every time the Cougars thought they were rid of Arizona, the Wildcats just kept hanging around. And due to the fact Washington State didn't do a good job of taking care of itself, the Wildcats registered a 15-9, 7-15, 5-15, 15-13, 15-11 upset win at Bohler Gym in front of a stunned audience of 1,374.