Whitworth Women Earn Naia Berth

For the first time in school history, the Whitworth Pirates women’s basketball team will make an appearance at the NAIA Division 2 National Tournament.

Whitworth advanced with a 75-66 win over the Willamette Bearcats in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges championship game Saturday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse.

“At the beginning of the season, Nationals was a dream, kind of a non-reality,” Whitworth coach Helen Higgs said. “It’s a credit to the players.”

The 32-team tournament is at Western Oregon College in Monmouth, Ore., March 8-14.

The Pirates (18-11) grabbed their first lead of the game, 8-7, at 3:44 of the first half and led the rest of the period, extending their lead to as many as 10 points.

Whitworth led 38-30 at halftime, but a 12-5 run - sparked by seven points from Carolyn Leary and five points from Margaret Weber to begin the second half - closed Willamette to within two.

That’s when Whitworth’s Jennifer Tissue took over, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the final 12 minutes. She went 2 for 2 from the field and 6 for 7 from the freethrow line in that stretch to push the Pirates’ lead back to 11 with 2:05 to go.

Willamette never got closer than eight points.

“They never buckled and played hard,” Higgs said. “They’re (Willamette) a great team and they’re young.”

Whitworth had four players in double figures - including Annette Sweeney, who led the Pirates with 17 points.

Sweeney, the NCIC most valuable player and Whitworth’s leading scorer at 18.2 points a game, bounced back from Friday night’s 3-for-16 shooting effort in a 51-50, first-round win over Whitman.

“I was nervous last night because it was the first round of playoffs,” Sweeney said. “Tonight I had a lot more confidence. It was a total team effort.”

Whitworth shot 51 percent from the floor and 72 percent from the line.

Kim McFadden, Whitworth’s senior point guard, became the Pirates’ all-time assist leader with 391, breaking the record of 386 held by Shellie Sarff. McFadden also had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go with her five assists.

Sherri Northington added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates.

Leary and Saran Patillo scored 13 points each to lead the Bearcats, who finished 22-6.

Whitworth bounced back from a 5-9 start to enter the the league tournament 16-11 overall and 10-2 in the NCIC, with losses coming to Whitman and Pacific Lutheran.

Whitworth 75, Willamette 66

WILLAMETTE Weber 2-4 4-5 8, Leary 5-16 3-5 13, Liebler 1-3 0-0 2, Ell 1-2 0-0 2, Shepard 1-4 0-0 2, Kruger 3-9 0-0 9, Joseph 2-5 2-2 6, Ulrey 4-9 0-0 11, Patillo 5-11 3-5 13. Totals - 24-63 12-17 66.

WHITWORTH McFadden 6-7 0-0 13, Sherer 4-10 0-1 8, Roberts 3-8 3-4 9, Sweeney 4-12 6-8 17, Tissue 3-4 6-7 12, Northington 5-9 5-7 15, Elliott 0-1 1-2 0. Totals - 25-49 21-29 75.

Halftime - Whitworth 38, Willamette 30. 3-point goals - Willamette 6-18 (Leary 0-6, Ell 0-1, Kruger 3-4, Ulrey 3-7). Whitworth 4-13 (McFadden 1-1, Sherer 0-3, Sweeney 3-8, Tissue 0-1). Rebounds - Willamette 44 (Patillo 10), Whitworth 32 (Northington 13). Assists - Willamette 5 (Leary 2), Whitworth 13 (McFadden 5). Total fouls - Willamette 22, Whitworth 15. Fouled out - Kruger. Technicals - none. Attendance - 1000.