Whitworth women lean on reigning NWC Rookie of the Year Ashlyn Peterson

Last season, with almost an entirely new roster, was a year of rebuilding and growth – albeit with its fair share of growing pains – for Whitworth’s women’s basketball. Fourth-year head coach Kenny Love hopes the takeaways from that year will pay off for the Pirates this upcoming season.

“Those lessons and the experiences for those young players are going to play a pivotal role for us,” Love said. “It’ll pay dividends early on. I am excited to see how well they’re able to meet the moment.”

With only a handful of upperclassmen last year, the Pirates leaned heavily on a large but talented group of freshmen, and many stepped into big roles on day one. Among them is Ashlyn Peterson, who earned All-Northwest Conference second team and rookie of the year honors, and will be the point guard and leading piece for the Pirates in her second season.

Whitworth also returns key players in sophomore guard Alex Goetz and junior guard Ashlyn Neilsen to round out a backcourt that can get to the rim. Sophomore center Addyson Gallatin will bring size to the paint.

Love added two transfers in CC Size, a junior guard from Western Washington, and Taylor Reed, a senior guard from Bushnell. Guard Ava DePew headlines another talented freshmen class.

“I really like the makeup of the group and its strengths complementing one another, where I don’t think there is one weakness across the board,” Love said.

The Pirates will take trips to California and Hawaii as a part of a strong nonconference schedule, which Love hopes will help simulate the experience of the NCAA Tournament – a destination the women’s team has not reached in over a decade.

“We’ve had very open and honest conversations about where we are, where we’ve been and where we want to go,” Love said. “… The group really has to set their sights ahead and make those decisions of what they want to commit toward working for.”