Pirates Stay In Hunt For Playoff Spot

Women’s college basketball

Whitworth College remained in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges playoff hunt with a tough 73-62 win over visiting Whitman College in a women’s NCIC basketball game on Tuesday night.

Whitworth opened its largest lead at 53-41 4 minutes into the second half, but could not pull away.

Whitman managed to stay in the game with strong offensive rebounding. The Missionaries finished with 17 offensive boards to Whitworth’s eight.

Whitworth’s Kristi Pentzer tied her career high with 20 points to lead both squads. Andrea Sherer added 18 for the Pirates.

Whitman was led by Amanda Bradford’s 17 points and game-high 10 rebounds.

The win improves the Pirates’ record to 9-11 overall, 8-6 in the NCIC. Whitworth entered the game in sixth place, but only one game out of the fourth and final playoff spot.

Whitman fell to 2-18, 1-13.

Whitworth 73, Whitman 62

Whitman (2-18, 1-13) - Rasmussen 0-1 1-2 1, Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Priore 1-5 2-2 4, Goldmark 5-11 1-2 11, Clawson 5-7 0-0 12, Saltonstall 3-10, 1-2 7, Hagolin 0-0 0-0 0, Rockwell 2-5 0-0 4, Bradford 5-13 7-9 17, Stewart 3-10 0-0 6. Totals - 24-64 11-15 62.

Whitworth (9-11, 8-6) - Sherer 6-13 6-8 18, Davis 2-8 0-0 6, Ratcliff 0-0 0-0 0, Wakefield 2-5 0-0 4, Pentzer 7-11 4-4 20, Werner 3-7 2-3 8, Olson 4-7 0-0 8, Viall 3-10 2-3 9. Totals - 27-61 14-18 72.

Halftime - Whitworth 41, Whitman 31. 3-point goals - Whitman 3-8 (Clawson 2-3, Goldmark 1-2, Priore 0-1, Rockwell 0-1, Bradford 0-1), Whitworth 5-16 (Pentzer 2-2, Davis 2-6, Viall 1-4, Olson 0-1, Wakefield 0-1, Werner 0-2). Total Fouls - Whitman 17, Whitwoth 13. Rebounds - Whitman - 45 (Bradford 10), Whitworth 34 (Sherer 7). Assists - Whitman 15 (Rockwell 5), Whitworth 16 (Davis 6). Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.

Turner named WCC player of the week

Gonzaga freshman reserve Holly Turner was named West Coast Conference player of the week after turning in a career-high performance against Santa Clara.

Turner, a Mead High graduate, scored 18 points and keyed a 10-0 run to lead the Bulldogs (10-12, 2-8) to an upset win over the Broncos (17-6, 8-2).

Turner also scored 10 points in GU’s loss to San Francisco.

Not on automatic pilot

It hasn’t been a typical Portland-type year for the Pilots, but all that can change with a strong finish down the stretch.

“Our goal has been to win 20 games every year,” said 12thyear Pilots coach Jim Sollars, whose team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament the past four years.

The Pilots, winners of five of their last six, are in town to take on Gonzaga tonight at 5:15. Portland’s 15-7 overall record and 6-4 fourth-place conference mark is the direct result of youth and season-ending injuries.

Ferris graduate Jennifer Swinton is among the wounded. The 6-foot-1 sophomore center blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during the second game of the season. The knee required surgery. Sollars said her rehabilitation is going well.

Another Greater Spokane League connection, Kristin Hepton of Central Valley, is having a swell season. The 6-1 junior forward is one of two starters back from last year’s team and is averaging 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

However, Hepton is best known for her accuracy on the foul line. She led the nation in free-throw percentage for part of last season. This year, she’s second in the conference hitting 72 of 83 for 86.7 percent. Last year she sank 69 of 77 for 89.6 percent.

3-pointers

Former Foster High track star LaShanda Fowler will be back in Cheney Thursday when her Cal State Northridge team (10-10, 6-4 Big Sky Conference) plays Eastern Washington (4-17, 2-9).

Fowler, a freshman, won five A/B state sprinting titles over two years on the Woodward Stadium track.

Stanford senior center/forward Heather Owen (Moscow High) put together her first double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the No. 8 Cardinal win over Cal last week.

Said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer: “I’d like to see Heather finish better inside. Her defense has been steady and she’s been pretty consistent.”

Meanwhile Stanford’s Kristin Folkl, sidelined last weekend because of two fractured right fingers, has been cleared to practice in preparation for Thursday’s game against UCLA. … UC Santa Barbara sophomore point guard Stacy Clinesmith (Mead High) leads the Big West Conference in 3-point shooting hitting 42 of 107. She’s averaging 13.3 points per game for the Western Division first-place Gauchos (17-5, 8-1).

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AREA LEADERS Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Shelley Massingale, CCS 151-331 100-138 14 17.3 Alli Nieman, UI 123-268 100-141 6 16.0 Tammy Goyne, NIC 112-230 55-79 34 14.9 Andrea Sherer, Whit. 116-235 49-109 0 14.8 Yvonne Kunze, WSU 111-203 48-77 0 13.5 Alana Carlander, CCS 120-299 52-83 46 13.5 Kelli Johnson, UI 108-269 49-127 49 13.3 Alke Dietel, WSU 100-212 30-43 23 12.7 Tracy Ford, EWU 93-248 37-45 30 12.7 Kelli Pilkington, CCS 130-289 54-90 23 12.7 Susan Woolf, UI 80-239 76-106 41 12.0 Becky Huddle, NIC 67-179 88-119 10 11.6 Lydia Ledgerwood, GU 90-216 67-88 7 11.5 Sandy Gere, GU 77-206 40-54 29 10.6 Jamie Wakefield, Whit. 67-136 48-70 17 9.9

Rebounding Pilkington, CCS, 9.2 (230); Juli Carlson, EWU, 8.2 (172); Sherer, Whit., 7.7 (148); Nieman, UI, 7.1 (156); Kunze, WSU, 6.9 (168).

Assists Goyne, NIC, 4.7 (99); Lisa Bocook, CCS, 4.1 (69); Woolf, UI, 4.0 (93); Kathyrn Gussett, UI, 3.9 (89); Jen Kerns, WSU, 3.4 (68).

Steals Goyne, NIC, 3.9 (81); Bocook, CCS, 3.8 (54); Gere, GU, 2.0 (42); Gussett; UI, 2.0 (47); Johnson, UI, 1.8 (41).

SCHEDULE Today: Portland at Gonzaga, 5:15 p.m. Thursday: Treasure Valley CC at NIC, 5:30 p.m.; CS Northridge at Eastern, 7 p.m.; WSU at Oregon, 7 p.m. Friday: Pacific Lutheran at Whitworth, 6 p.m.; North Texas at Idaho, 7 p.m. Saturday: Gonzaga at Portland, 5:15 p.m.; CSI at NIC, 5:30 p.m.; Lewis & Clark at Whitworth, 6 p.m.; Walla Walla CC at SFCC, 6 p.m.; Northern Arizona at Eastern, 7 p.m.; WSU at Oregon State, 7 p.m.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Staff writer Hilary Kraus contributed to this report