Women's BB Hosting 5th Annual Kim Evanger Raney Classic

Whitman's Jenele Peterson

 

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Whitman College women’s basketball team is hosting the fifth annual Kim Evanger Raney Memorial Classic this Friday and Saturday on George Ball Court in Sherwood Athletic Center.

The four-team tournament honors the late Kim Evanger Raney, a graduate of Issaquah (Wash.) High School who played basketball at Whitman before completing her psychology degree in the spring of 2002. She was 26 when she died in a cycling accident in March of 2007.

Kim Evanger Raney

Gate receipts (beyond basic tournament expenses) will be donated to the Kim Evanger Raney Foundation, which supports such charities as Childhaven, Royal Family Kids Camp, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the Special Olympics. 

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $1 for children.

Additional contributions for the Evanger Raney Foundation will be accepted at the door and throughout the course of the tournament.

Whitworth University and the Univeristy of California-Santa Cruz play the tourney opener at 6 p.m. Friday. Whitman and Lancaster Bible College (Pennsylvania) play Friday’s second game, starting at about 8 p.m.

The tournament resumes at 6 p.m. Saturday with Whitworth playing Lancaster. Whitman and UC-Santa Cruz play the finale at about 8 p.m.

A tournament Most Valuable Player and All-Tournament Team will be announced immediately following the last game.

More information about each of the tournament teams follows below:

Whitman Missionaries

While just six games into its schedule, Whitman has already fought its way through what seems like a season's worth of bad bounces and adversity in stumbling to a 1-5 start.

The Missionaries lost their first four games by a combined margin of just 11 points. One of those losses was a 54-53 setback against George Fox, the nation's third-ranked NCAA Division III team, in what was the Northwest Conference opener for both schools.

Jenn Keyes

One night after that loss, Whitman jumped all over No. 18 Lewis & Clark while racing away to a 21-10 lead in the first 15 minutes of the first half.

But the Missionaries soon slipped into serious foul trouble (three players eventually fouled out), and Lewis & Clark outscored Whitman by 11 points at the free throw line and won by 10.

Jenele Peterson, Whitman's senior point guard, is averaging 12.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals to start her season. She heads to the weekend just 65 points shy of becoming the 13th woman at Whitman to score 1,000 career points.

After Peterson, Whitman's early stat sheet shows no fewer than seven players averaging between 5.3 and 7.0 points per game.

Sophomore guard Tiffani Traver also contributes all over the floor, averaging 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Guard Kelly Peterson (6.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and forward Mary Madden (5.5 rpg, 5.0 rpg), two juniors, also impact both ends of the court, as does 6-foot sophomore Meghan White (5.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg).

Two more youngsters, 6-foot-2 sophomore Sarah Anderegg (6.5 ppg) and 6-foot rookie Heather Lovelace (7.0 ppg), give the Missionaries more inside scoring punch.

Seniors (and former Walla Walla High School teammates) Jennifer Keyes and Anna Forge add their own special talents to the Whitman arsenal.

Keyes, a sharpshooting guard, has knocked down 10 3-pointers in her first six games and ranks among the NWC leaders in that category. Despite injuries that have plagued her time at Whitman, Keyes has collected 111 career 3-point baskets.

Forge, an athletic 5-foot-10 wing, is a defensive specialist with nine blocked shots to her credit in her first six games. A year ago, she swatted away 27 shots in 26 games to finish fourth in the NWC in that stat category.

Shiann Dreadfulwater, a guard and junior transfer from Walla Walla Community College, is averaging 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while adjusting to her new team.

Whitworth Pirates

Like Whitman, Whitworth has struggled a bit against tough opponents to open its season, going 2-6 in its first eight games. Two of the early losses came by margins of four and three points.

Lexi Belcher

Lexie Belcher, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, is shooting 51.3 percent from the floor while averaging 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Two junior guards, Lauren Picha (11.3 ppg, 50% fg) and Emily Guthrie (10.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), are also scoring in double figures for the Pirates.

Two sophomores, guard Kayla Johnson (9.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.0 spg) and Jamie Lyons (5.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg), round out what has been Whitworth's starting five thus far this season.

Guthrie has 16 3-point baskets for the Pirates while Picha and Belcher have combined for 23 more 3-point strikes.

UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs

The Banana Slugs, who play Whitworth Friday and Whitman Saturday, are off to a 3-5 start this season. Two of their losses came last month in Tacoma, Wash., to NWC teams Pacific Lutheran (62-53) and Puget Sound (55-45).

UC-Santa Cruz, an NCAA Division III independent, traveled to Spokane early last season for two tournament games. The Slugs edged Whitworth 69-68 but lost 69-50 to Whitman.

Jenele Peterson and Jennifer Keyes had 11 points apiece to spark the Whitman win. Anna Forge and Kelly Peterson added 10 points each to the victory. Sarah Anderegg was right behind with eight points.

Sarah Mackey, a 6-foot junior forwards, is averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds to pace the Banana Slugs this season. She is shooting 48 percent from the floor and has blocked 19 shots in just eight games.

Leah Parrish, a 6-foot first-year forward, adds 9.3 points and 5.9 rebounds to the Santa Cruz attack. Danielle Mofsowitz, a senior guard, has made 16 of 48 3-point attempts (33.3 percent), while averaging 8.5 points.

Alison Scarbrough, a 5-foot-8 senior who had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals against Whitman last year, is averaging 7.5 points to start this season.

Lancaster Bible College Chargers

Lancaster, off to a 1-2 start this season, is in its first season in the seven-team South Division of the North Eastern Athletic Conference, which has a total of 13 NCAA DIII schools in its two divisions.

Lauren Heliger, a 5-foot-3 junior guard, leads the Chargers in scoring at 14.7 points per game while also collecting 3.7 rebounds a night. Brooklyn Wilson, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, adds 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds to the Lancaster back court.

Emily Lloyd, a 5-foot-10 junior forward, is close to averaging a double-double at 9.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Sarah Heilenman, a 5-foot-11 first-year forward, is hitting the boards for 8.0 rebounds a game while scoring 4.7 points. Emily Martz, a 5-foot-7 sophomore forwards, is picking off 6.3 rebounds per game.

- 30 -

CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu