Unbeaten Whit women get home
The Whitworth College women’s basketball team returns home for only the second time this season Wednesday, when the Pirates team with Whitman as hosts of the Quality Inn Whit Classic.
The two-day tournament at Whitworth’s Fieldhouse begins with Whitman playing Concordia College of Moorhead, Minn., at 6 p.m. before the Pirates play host to Carroll College of Helena at 8. Whitman and Whitworth switch opponents Thursday, though both play at the same times.
The Pirates’ road-heavy non-conference schedule may have been arduous, but it also has been productive. Whitworth is 7-0, has won two tournaments and is ranked as high as 19th in NCAA Division III polls.
“That’s the life of being out here by yourself as a Division III school; that’s the reality,” said Whitworth head coach Helen Higgs. “Whitman has the same problem, which is why we host the tournament together.”
The NCAA Division III is dominated by schools in the Northeast and Midwest – there are only two conferences west of the Rockies – leading to either long road trips (the Whits opened the season in Wilmington, Ohio) or games against non-NCAA teams.
Carroll (12-3) is an example of the latter. The Saints are ranked 19th in the NAIA’s Division I. Carroll was 29-7 last season and this season boasts three players with Spokane ties. Juniors Carly Syverson and Central Valley grad Katie Rodgers played at the Community Colleges of Spokane the past two years, while junior guard Ellen Smith is a Clarkston High product.
Syverson has started all but one of the Saints’ games and is averaging almost 10 points a game. Rodgers has played in every game, starting twice, and averages 6 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. Smith has played in 12 games, scoring 2.7 points per game.
Concordia has played just five games (3-2), with only one at home. The Cobbers – the school’s mascot is a corn cob – are led by senior guard Mandy Pearson, a second-team Division III All-American last year. Pearson averages 18.6 points a game.
Whitman, one of the Northwest Conference preseason favorites, is 5-2, including an 80-69 win at Carroll on Dec. 10. Junior forward Lizzy Washburn leads the Missionaries, averaging 14.1 points per game.
Whitworth’s hot start has been fueled by the Pirates’ four senior starters: All-American forward Tiffany Speer (22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds), forward Sarah Shogren (19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds), guard Dani Bielec (9.3 points, 5.9 rebounds) and guard Wenchi Lui (4.9 points, 5.6 assists).
None of the four teams have played since Dec. 11.
The Whitworth men (4-3), who have yet to play an official home game, play another exhibition contest tonight, hosting the University of Northern British Columbia at 8. The Pirates, who last played Dec. 12, have won three consecutive games, including a 51-46 victory over Lewis-Clark State, ranked 14th in the NAIA Division I at the time, and the championship game of the Wildhorse Resort Classic at Whitman in Walla Walla.
The Gonzaga women return to action Wednesday at 7 p.m., hosting the University of Utah. The Utes, who have been ranked as high as 25th in the nation, are 8-3 but are coming off their worst home loss in nearly 10 years, a 72-59 spanking by the University of Oklahoma last Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (8-2) learned Thursday that junior Ashley Anderson was officially out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Anderson, who suffered the injury prior to the Dec. 13 Idaho game, will undergo surgery within the next few weeks with rehabilitation expected to take nine months.
The Eastern Washington women, riding a five-game winning streak, also return to action Wednesday, hosting the University of Denver at 7:05 p.m. The Eagles are 6-3, while Denver is 2-7, having won two of its last three.
Idaho’s women are on the road Wednesday to open Big West Conference play with a 2:30 p.m. (PST) game at Utah State in Logan, Utah. The 5-4 Vandals are in the midst of a five-game road trip. Utah State, at 4-4 only one win shy of last year’s total when the Aggies finished 5-20, has never defeated the Vandals.