Whitman BB Teams Home Friday, Saturday
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- After playing five of their first eight Northwest Conference games on the road, the Whitman College basketball teams turn the tables during the second half of the season, starting this weekend with home games in Sherwood Center.
Lewis & Clark College provides the opposition Friday night followed by Willamette University on Saturday. The women's games tip off both nights at 6 p.m. with the men's games set for 8 p.m. starts.
Saturday's admission receipts will benefit Samaritan's Feet, a non-profit organization that provides shoes for millions of impoverished people around the world.
To help raise awareness for the charity, Whitman coaches Michelle Ferenz and Eric Bridgeland will coach that night in their bare feet (click here for more information).
Admission each night is $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $1 for students. Admission to all Whitman home athletic events is free for Whitman students, faculty and staff
Fans not able to see the games in person this weekend can follow the action online.
Women's Games
The Whitman women's team, battling through an injury-riddled season, is 7-10 overall and 2-6 in the NWC. Prior to beating Linfield last Saturday, the Missionaries had struggled through a five-game losing streak that included four setbacks by narrow margins.
Lewis & Clark, Friday's opponent, is 12-5 overall and 6-2 in conference. The Pioneers kicked off their season by winning six of seven games and then opened their NWC slate with six straight victories. That string came to a close last weekend with decisive defeats at home to George Fox and Puget Sound.
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| Kelly Peterson |
Seniors Hilary White and Michelle Krall, along with junior Rebecca Sexton and first-year guard Kelly Peterson, continue lead Whitman at both ends of the floor.
White, a 5-foot-9 guard, is averaging 12.4 points and 5.1 rebounds, and she's tied for second in the NWC in 3-point baskets (2.06 pg). She nailed four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in last Saturday's victory over Linfield.
Sexton, a 6-foot-3 center, is averaging 9.9 points (12.0 ppg in NWC games) and 5.2 rebounds. She is shooting 54.2 percent on the season, which tops the conference, and she is tied for third in blocked shots (1.29 pg) and sixth in free throw shooting (36-45, 80 percent).
In her eight NWC games, Sexton has knocked down a conference-best 90.9 percent (30-33) of her free throws.
At 5-foot-8, Peterson continues to fill the injury void in the Whitman backcourt, averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Peterson is shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor on the season, although her shooting eye has been sharper yet against conference foes. In NWC games only, she has drilled 27 of 46 field goal attempts, a 58.7 percent shooting mark that leads the conference by a wide margin.
Krall, a 5-foot-10 wing, is shooting 41 percent from the floor on the season while averaging 8.2 points 4.0 rebounds.
Sophomore Jennifer Keyes, slowed by injury all season, gives Whitman a 3-point threat off the bench. In eight NWC games, the 5-foot-6 guard is shooting 44.8 percent (13-29) from beyond the arc, which ranks her fifth in that statistical category.
As a team, the Whitman women are No. 1 in the NWC in field goal percentage (40.4), 3-point percentage (32.7), assists (15.24 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Early this month in Portland, Whitman shot poorly and opened its conference season with a 53-38 loss to Lewis & Clark. Krall had 10 points and five rebounds, but no other Missionary scored more than six points.
Christina Herring, a 5-foot-6 junior guard, led Lewis & Clark to that victory with 10 points and 10 assists. She averages 10.1 points and a league-best 4.5 assists.
Kristina Williams, a 5-foot-9 first-year guard, tops the Pioneers in scoring at 15.4 points per game (2nd NWC) and averages 5.9 rebounds. Margaret Dowling, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, leads the conference in rebounding at 8.9 boards and adds 7.9 points a night at the offensive end.
Sophomore Megan Spence (6-foot) and Neva Hauser (5-10) give Lewis & Clark more size inside. The Pioneers lead the NWC in rebounding (42.4 pg) and rebounding margin (+6.8).
Before coming to Walla Walla on Saturday, the Willamette women take records of 3-14 and 1-7 to Spokane for a Friday night game at Whitworth. The Bearcats split a pair of games last weekend, snapping their nine-game losing streak.
Whitman contributed to that losing streak by rolling over Willamette 70-45 early this month in Salem. With Keyes making five of seven shots from the 3-point stripe and scoring 17 points, the Missionaries buried a school record 14 3-pointers in that game. White struck four times from long range and had 14 points and seven rebounds. Sexton just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight boards.
Willamette's Alex Zennan, a 5-foot-6 junior guard, leads the NWC in 3-point baskets with 46 in 17 games. She is scoring a team-high 15.1 points per game.
Keilyn Fujioka, a 6-foot-1 junior, averages 11.1 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Bearcats. She is No. 2 in the NWC in rebounding.
Men's Game
After falling by a scant four points to Linfield last Saturday, a young Whitman men's team looks to break a four-game losing streak Friday night against Lewis & Clark.
Now 9-8 on the season and 3-5 in conference, Whitman continues to lead the league in scoring (85.8 ppg), steals (11.41 pg), turnover margin (+7.18) and forced turnovers (25.3 pg).
The Missionaries are also averaging 8.76 3-point baskets per game, which is second only to Lewis & Clark its 9.19 per game average.
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| LuQuam Thompson |
Lewis & Clark (5-11, 4-4 NWC) has had an up-and-down season, losing seven of its first eight games with three of those losses coming in overtime. The Pioneers have won three of their last four conference games.
Whitman's Brandon Shaw, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, has elevated his play since the start of conference play, averaging 18.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in those eight games.
Shaw is shooting 55.8 percent from the floor against NWC foes, which ranks him third in that category. He is also averaging an NWC-best 2.59 steals per game on the season.
Adding more offensive and defensive firepower to the Whitman backcourt are 6-foot-1 junior guard Justin Artis (11.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and 5-foot-11 freshman guard LuQuam Thompson (10.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg). Both rank in the Top 10 in steals and both shoot well from the 3-point line.
Artis is shooting 42.1 percent (16-38) from the 3-point stripe in conference games. Thompson is eight of 16 from long range, a 50-percent clip.
Whitman's balanced attack also includes 6-foot-4 junior Daniel Davidson (9.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg), 6-foot-4 freshman Peter Clark (9.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and 6-foot-7 sophomore David Michaels (8.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg).
Clark remains the most deadly 3-point threat on team. He leads the NWC in total 3-point baskets with 44.
Davidson has drilled 15 of his 29 shots from the 3-point stripe, good for a sizzling 51.7 percent. That would lead the NWC in 3-point accuracy if Davidson met the statistical minimum of one 3-point basket per game played.
Michaels ranks high in the conference in field goal accuracy. He's made 49 of 86 shots (57.0 percent) from the floor while also converting 43 of 56 free throws (76.8 percent).
A pair of 6-foot-3 guards, junior Kelly Edwards and sophomore James Hollins, give Lewis & Clark a strong one-two scoring punch. Edwards is No. 2 in the conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game while Hollins is No. 4 at 16.4 points a night.
Josh Kollasch, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, adds 11.1 points per game to the Pioneer offense. The guard trio also combines to average 17.6 rebounds with Hollins pulling a team-high 7.6 boards per game.
Rounding out the Lewis & Clark core are 6-foot-5 junior Kyle Meeuwsen (9.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg), 5-foot-11 senior Tyler Tsukazaki (8.5 ppg) and 5-foot-10 sophomore PJ Taylor (7.2 ppg).
Last month in Portland, Whitman rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit before losing 82-76 in overtime to the Pioneers. Shaw paced the Missionaries with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Edwards had 20 points and eight boards for Lewis & Clark.
The Willamette men (4-13, 1-7 NWC) play Whitworth in Spokane Friday night before coming to Whitman on Saturday. Early this month in Salem, the Missionaries led wire to wire in posting an 87-60 victory in the Bearcat gym.
Clark had 18 points to trigger that win. Shaw contributed 16 points and five steals. Thompson had 15 points, four assists and four steals.
Cameron Mitchell, a 6-foot-7 senior post, was a one-man show for Willamette, pinning 22 points, 17 rebounds and eight blocked shots on the Missionaries.
Taylor Mounts, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, gave Willamette more muscle inside with 16 points and nine boards.
Mitchell, who is shooting nearly 58 percent from the floor, is tops in the conference in both scoring (20.1 ppg) and rebounding (12.5 rpg). Mounts is averaging 13.6 points and 6.8 boards on the season.
Bearcat guards Marcus Holmes (5-11, jr.) and Terrell Malley (5-10, fr.) average about 11 points per game.
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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu