Regular Season BB Finales: Friday Night on George Ball Court

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Whitman College basketball teams look to cap the regular season with victories when they host their Willamette University counterparts Friday night on George Ball Court in Sherwood Center.

The women play at 6 p.m. followed by the men at 8 p.m.

Win or lose, both Whitman squads are headed to next week's Northwest Conference playoffs, which get underway with first-round games on Thursday, Feb. 23.

The Missionary women, now 11-4 in the Northwest Conference and 15-9 overall, are already locked into the No. 3 seed. They travel to Portland to face Lewis & Clark in the opening round.

Meanwhile, the Whitman men (10-5 NWC, 17-7 overall) began the week in a tie for second-place with Puget Sound.

To grab the No. 2 seed and host a first-round playoff game, the Missionaries must beat Willamette and hope that Puget Sound loses its last two games at Lewis & Clark (Friday) and Linfield (Saturday).

If Puget Sound nails down the No. 2 men's seed, it will host Whitman in the first round.

Women's Game: 6 p.m. Friday

The Whitman women face a Willamette team that has struggled through a long season. The Bearcats have lost 16 straight and come to town with a 1-22 record (0-14 in the NWC).

In this season's first meeting between the two schools, Whitman rolled to a 66-49 victory last month in Salem. Willamette stayed close over the first 20 minutes, cramming five points into the final 49 seconds of the first half to trail 30-26 at the break.

Mary Madden

But the Missionaries opened the second stanza on a 23-5 run to put the game away. Senior Jenele Peterson finished with 17 points in that game while junior Kelly Peterson had 15. Sophomore Meghan White chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds. 

Whitman, which has won 12 of 14 games this calendar year, continues to make great use of a nine-player rotation that has senior bookends in the scoring column. Jenele Peterson averages 13.6 points to lead the offense while Anna Forge scores 4.2 points per game to anchor the other end.

White, a six-foot sophomore, tops the team in rebounding at 7.7 boards per game. Junior Mary Madden and sophomore Tiffani Brewer are averaging 4.6 and 4.0 rebounds, respectively.

Jenele Peterson with 36 steals and Brewer with 33 lead Whitman in that defensive category. Forge has 29 steals.

As a team, Whitman ranks second in the NWC in blocked shots. Forge has blocked 25 shots, the third-highest individual total in the conference. White is right behind with 24.

Kaileigh Westermann, a 5-foot-11 senior, and Mackenzie Lamson, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, lead Willamette in scoring at 8.9 and 8.8 points per game, resspectively. Westermann is the club's best rebounder at 7.7 boards per game.

Last month in Salem, 5-foot-10 first-year wing Julia Brand came off the bench for 11 Willamette points. Senior Dora Rabih added eight points and nine rebounds while senior Maya McFaddin had eight points and seven boards.

Men's Game: 8 p.m. Friday

The Whitman men face a Willamette team that was winless in the NWC until two weekends ago. Since then, the Bearcats have won three of four, posting home-floor wins over Willamette and two of the teams (Lewis & Clark, Pacific Lutheran) still fighting for the final playoff spot.

Willamette, which had last 10 straight games prior to its late season hot streak, is now 3-11 in the NWC and 5-18 overall.

Drew Raher

Whitman, which has won four of its last six games, cruised to a 98-65 victory over Willamette last month in Salem. The Missionaries blew the game open by outscoring the Bearcats 27-5 during an eight-minute span on either side of the halftime break.

Senior David Michaels led the way with 22 points, making eight of nine shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point attempts. Sophomores Josh Duckworth and Jordan Dickson added 11 and 10 points, respectively, while junior Drew Raher had 11 rebounds and nine points.

Michaels continues to lead Whitman this season in both scoring (19.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). He is the second-leading scorer in the conference and is scoring 22.1 points per game in NWC games only. 

Whitman's balanced attack has eight other players averaging between 8.9 points (sophomore Ben Eisenhardt) and 4.7 points (freshman Matt Mounier). Raher averages 4.0 rebounds while sophomore Josh Duckworth (3.9 rpg) and Eisenhardt (3.7 rpg) also help the Missionaries hit the boards.

Willamette's Taylor Mounts, a 6-foot-5 senioir, had 12 points to lead the Bearcats in last month's loss to Whitman in Salem. Ryan Meehan, a 6-foot-3 senior, had 11 points while 6-foot-6 sophomore Noah Ripley came off the bench for 10 points.

Mounts averages 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on the season. Terrell Malley, a 5-foot-11 junior, scores 12.5 points per game while Meehan contributes 11.9 points and 3.8 rebounds a night. Sean Dart, a 6-foot-6 junior, adds 8.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

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