Whit BB Women Look to Reclaim Third Spot in NWC Standings

 

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Whitman College women's basketball team can reclaim third place in the Northwest Conference standings by winning a pair of home games this weekend in Sherwood Center.

Whitman, 6-4 in the NWC and 10-9 overall, starts the weekend in fourth place, a game back of third-place Puget Sound (7-3 NWC, 11-8 overall).

Whitman hosts Pacific Lutheran (3-7 NWC, 6-13 overall) at 6 p.m. Friday while Puget Sound faces a stiff test that night in Spokane against Whitworth (4-6 NWC, 8-11 overall).

Saturday's slate of games has Puget Sound coming to George Ball Court for a critical showdown with Whitman. That game has an early start at 5 p.m.

Two wins home-floor wins this weekend would give Whitman a season sweep of the Tacoma schools. Early in January, Whitman skated through Tacoma with a 76-68 victory over Puget Sound and a 64-48 triumph at Pacific Lutheran.

Senior point guard Jenele Peterson continues to pace the Missionaries this season, averaging 12.9 points and 4.4 assists per game. She leads the NWC in assists and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio

In recent weeks Peterson has moved into the Top 10 in career scoring for Whitman women's basketball. She starts the weekend in the 10th spot all-time with 1,105 career points and is just 20 points shy of leapfrogging into seventh.

After Peterson, Whitman has eight players averaging between 8.7 and 4.0 points.

Juniors Kelly Peterson (8.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Mary Madden (7.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg) have been solid all season, and the former high school teammates from Huntington Beach, Calif., are two reasons why Whitman continues to lead the NWC in free throw percentage.

Kelly Peterson (no relation to Jenele) is 45 of 58 from the line, good for 77.6 percent, while Madden is 31 of 33 (93.9 percent).

Other Missionaries showing a deadly eye at the free throw stripe are Jenele Peterson (51-65, 87.5), sophomore Tiffani Traver (18-23, 78.3 percent), senior Anna Forge (16-20, 80 percent) and first-year forward Heather Lovelace (16-19, 84.2 percent).

Six-foot sophomore Meghan White continues to lead Whitman on backboards, averaging 7.4 rebounds while chipping in with 6.7 points a night. White also leads the Missionaries in blocked shots with 19, one more than than Forge.

As a team, Whitman is averaging 3.1 blocks per game, the second-best mark in the NWC. Three Missionaries are in the Top 10 individually with White and Forge at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. Sophomore Sarah Anderegg is No. 10 with 10 blocks.

Other scoring and/or rebounding leaders for Whitman include Anderegg (7.0 ppg), Traver (5.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg), Lovelace (4.7 ppg) and Forge (4.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg).

Senior sharpshooter Jenn Keyes (6.3 ppg) has missed some games to injury but has Whitman's best numbers from the 3-point arc. She has knocked down 31 of 83 shots from long distance, which ranks her sixth in the NWC at 37.3 percent.

The Whitman defense continues to lead the conference in defending the 3-point shot. The Missionaries have allowed the fewest number of 3-point baskets (71) while limiting the opposition to an NWC-lowest 27.4 percent shooting percentage from long distance. 

As a team, the Missionaries are committing just 14.7 turnovers per game, the fewest number in the NWC.

Pacific Lutheran Lutes

The Lutes have won two of their last four games but are just 2-9 dating back to Dec. 19.

Whitman's Jenele Peterson scored 15 points and handed out a career-high nine assists a month ago to spark the Missionaries to victory at Pacific Lutheran. Whitman raced away to a 22-8 lead, was up 41-24 at the break and allowed the Lutes no closer than 11 points in the second half.

Whitman's balanced attack in that victory included 10 points from Sarah Anderegg and eight points each from Meghan White, Kelly Peterson and Anna Forge.

Four players scored all 48 points that night for Pacific Lutheran. Shelly Kilcup had 13 points while Katelyn Smith and Samantha Potter added 12 points apiece. Sara Backstrom was good for 11 points.

Potter, a 5-foot-10 sophomore center, is averaging 16.9 points and 9.8 rebounds on the season. She ranks second in the NWC in both areas.

Kilcup, a 5-foot-7 guard, adds 12.9 points per game while Smith, a 6-foot sophomore center, scores 8.7 points a night. Both players are averaging 5.5 rebounds.

Backstrom, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, contributes 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Mackenzie Bieker, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, rounds out the starting five while averaging 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

As a team, the Lutes average 14.9 assists per game, the second-best mark in the NWC. They are second only to Whitman in terms of defending the 3-point shot, allowing opponents to shoot just 28 percent from downtown.

Whitman has emerged victorious in its last four -- and six of its last seven -- meetings with Pacific Lutheran. Pacific Lutheran's last victory in Sherwood Center came in February of 2007.

Puget Sound Loggers

After losing at home to Whitman in early January, the Boxers have won five of their last seven games as they head to Spokane for a Friday night test against Whitworth.

Whitman's Jenn Keyes hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers and Kelly Peterson made four straight free throws to help Whitman polish off its victory last month at Puget Sound. The Loggers closed to within a single point down the stretch before the Missionaries pulled away in the final two minutes.

Mary Madden paced the victory at the offensive end with 16 points. Kelly Peterson added 13 points while Jenele Peterson combined 12 points with six assists. Meghan White had 12 rebounds to power the Missionaries to a 42-29 edge on the backboards.

Amanda Forshay and Kelsey McKinnis led the Loggers with 16 points apiece in that game. Puget Sound also got 12 points from Jocelyn Riordan and 10 more from Lindsay Layland.

McKinnis, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, averages 15.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Riordan, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, adds 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds.

Forshay (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), a 6-foot first-year forward, and Layland (8.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg), a 5-foot-11 senior forward, give the Loggers some muscle around the hoop.

Sarah Stewart, a 6-foot-1 junior, averages a team-high 7.6 rebounds along with 5.6 points.

Whitman had lost six straight games to Puget Sound before it beat the Loggers last month in Tacoma. The Missionaries had dropped those six decisions by an average of just over three points per game.

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