Whitworth trades turnovers for baskets in win over UPS

When playing the Puget Sound Loggers, there is pressure put on your point guard. Enough pressure to break him. Or make a diamond.

In Bryan Williams’ case Friday night – during host Whitworth’s 98-74 victory over the 11th-ranked Loggers before a season-high crowd of 1,305 – it was the latter.

Williams, a junior from Mead High, scored a game-high 21 points. He had a game-high nine assists.

Against 40 minutes of end-to-end pressure, he had eight of Whitworth’s 26 turnovers. Usually a lot, but against the Loggers, an OK number to Pirates head coach Jim Hayford.

“We made a conscious decision to not back down against their pressure; to attack the basket,” said Hayford, who’s Pirates snapped a five-game losing streak to UPS. “When you do that, you will have more turnovers, but you’ll get a lot of easy baskets.

“I’ve said since (Williams) stepped on campus, I’ve got the best point guard in the Northwest Conference. I’ve never lacked confidence in No. 15.”

Of course, in a 24-point win (UPS’ worst loss in five years), it wasn’t just one player. It was also a balanced offense – with five players in double figures.

Most significantly, it was a stifling 3-2 Pirates zone, a trapping defense that limited UPS (17-4 overall, 11-2 and now tied for first with Willamette in the NWC) to 35 percent shooting, including a first half that was Spokane-winter cold.

The Loggers tried 13 3-point shots in the opening half. They missed 13. All of them came from the corners, a notoriously hard place to shoot from in the Fieldhouse. It was their first time this season they went a half without making a 3-pointer, a half in which they shot 31 percent. They finished 3 of 23 beyond the arc.

Lance Pecht, the Pirates’ leading scorer, had 20. He also spearheaded the zone from the free-throw line, harassing outside shooters and still doubling the post.

“He’s got to be part of the top traps and then he’s got to drop down and take away the post entry,” Hayford said of the 6-foot-4 senior. “That’s the great thing about having an athletic guy like that. He can do so many things.”

The Pirates were also doing many things on offense, including shooting 64 percent from the floor (53 percent beyond the arc) and converting 20 of 22 free throws. (UPS hit 31 of 36, its one bright spot on offense).

James Jones, a reserve guard, came off the bench to score 19, giving him 49 points in two games with UPS this season.

The win pulled Whitworth (16-6 overall, 10-3 NWC) within a game of the league leaders. Tonight they host Pacific Lutheran (5-17, 4-9), which upset them in Tacoma.

“We have to guard against a letdown, that’s a no-brainer,” Williams said.

Women

The first-place Loggers shot 61 percent from the floor in the second half to hand the Pirates (13-8, 7-6 in the NWC) their first home loss of the season, 83-69.

Whitworth led by five at the half, led by the 17 of Emily Hendrickson (she finished with a game-high 24) and the unexpected six from freshman Tiffany Corigliano, from Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) High. Corigliano had scored just 19 points all year and reached a career high before intermission.

But UPS (19-3, 11-2), paced by the outside shooting of Kilty Keaton, who had 14 of her 19 after halftime, took the lead less than 6 minutes after intermission, and held the Whits to 18 second-half points.