Box Score
By Ben Zimmerman
SPOKANE -- It had been 10 years since Whitman's last conference title in women's basketball, a co-championship with the University of Puget Sound.
Forgive the Missionaries for being greedy this time around.
Whitman secured the Northwest Conference crown all for itself by handling rival Whitworth 84-69 here Tuesday. Critical contributions from Heather Johns, Sarah Anderegg, Meghan White, Tiffani Traver and Hailey Mcdonald allowed the second-ranked Missionaries to control the second half and move within one victory of an undefeated regular season.
In sweeping its season series against the 25th-ranked Pirates, Whitman (24-0, 15-0) also secured home-court advantage throughout the Northwest Conference tournament. It will host the conference's fourth-place finisher in a tournament semifinal on Feb. 27, and would also host the tournament championship game March 1st with a semifinal win.
Perhaps a new banner will be hanging in Sherwood Center by then, keeping the one commemorating the 2003-04 (co-)championship company.
"Tonight was really about winning it outright, so we get to host both (tournament) games," said Whitman head coach Michelle Ferenz. "I think the kids had fun. It was a good crowd, good energy, great play all around. I'm sure we'll probably see Whitworth again. I'm just glad it will be at home."
Whitman made 29 of 53 field goals (54.7 percent), 8 of 14 3-pointers (57.1 percent) and 18 of 19 free throws (94.7 percent) in a rivalry game, on the road, against a nationally-ranked (25th) foe. It maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half and never led by fewer than eight points. All five starters scored in double figures.
"I thought the kids had one of their best performances of the season, in terms of balance," said Ferenz. "When it comes to this time of year, you want to do it with style."
With Denise (Kirstein) Pounds, a captain from Ferenz's 2003-04 squad, in attendance, Whitman was carried by its starting five. Senior center Sarah Anderegg had 16 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. Meghan White battled through foul trouble to score 16 points and rip seven boards. Tiffani Traver had 10 points and three assists, hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers. Hailey Mcdonald added 10 points and three steals.
Johns, meanwhile, was at Johns was at her marauding, lupine best in the second half: lurking low to the court, an almost imperceptible forward lean, her fluidity masking a devastating quickness. During a game-high 38 minutes of action, the junior point guard had 23 points, eight assits, six rebounds and two steals. She was 8 of 15 from the floor and made all five of her free throws.
Johns was at her best down the stretch. She kicked to Traver for a 3-pointer and a 64-50 lead at the 7:55 mark, as Whitman answered Whitworth's three-point play. Then she answered a Pirates 3-ball with one of her own, bumping the advantage to 67-53 with 6:20 to go.
White and then Anderegg hit jump shots after Whitworth (18-6, 12-3) pulled within eight points inside the final three minutes before Johns and Traver collaborated on the final nail, Johns darting baseline, absorbing a body blow and then flicking the ball from under the basket to the top of the key, where Traver was hovering.
Her 3-pointer swished through for a 78-65 lead with 1:16 to go.
"I really liked the way our kids shot the ball with confidence," Ferenz said. "Everyone stepped up and shot the ball well."
Whitworth controlled the early portion of the first half, forcing turnovers with full-court pressure and stinging the Missionaries with 3-pointers. Three different Pirates tallied from outside the arc during an 11-4 Whitworth run that gave it a 17-12 lead midway through the half.
But Whitman steadied itself and, with Johns taking a quick breather on the bench, tied it at 22 on an Alysse Kettner jumper. Johns checked back in and sparked the Missionaries' sharpest first-half sequence with a personal 5-0 run, scraping inside for a put-back basket, then slicing up the floor in transition for a floater plus the foul.
Her free throw gave Whitman a 27-22 lead. The Missionaries allowed their first basket in over four minutes but kept on clicking offensively, as Traver connected on a 3-pointer -- Whitman's first long-range attempt of the night -- and Anderegg and Mcdonald hit two free throws apiece. A 3-pointer by Kettner capped a 19-3 Missionaries rampage. It spanned over seven minutes and featured just one made Whitworth field goal.
The hosts salvaged a whit of momentum in the half's waning seconds, corralling an offensive rebound on a bricked front end of a one-and-one and swinging the ball to Kendra Lahue for a 3-pointer.
Whitworth made 5 of 9 3s in the first half and forced 11 Whitman turnovers. But the Missionaries had the upper hand thanks in part to superior rebounding (a 23-9 advantage on the glass) and defense inside the 3-point arc, holding the Pirates to 6-for-21 shooting on 2-point field goals. Whitman also converted all seven of its free throws.
White picked up two early fouls and played just six minutes in the half, but Johns crashed the window for five rebounds and Hailey Ann Maeda snagged four rebounds -- and had a steal and a blocked shot -- in White's stead.
It was prelude to a masterful second half.
Whitman closes out the regular season at Lewis and Clark on Saturday.
