By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – After an extended break, the Whitworth women's basketball squad returns to the court to host first-time opponent Benedictine on Sunday at 2:00pm before a midweek matchup against UC Santa Cruz on Wednesday at 1:00pm.
Check the Whitworth women's basketball schedule for live links to this week's games.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Fieldhouse for all fans. Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App (www.whitworthpirates.com/tickets). Tickets are $14 for adults and $8 for senior adults, non-Whitworth students and children. Whitworth students, as well as faculty and staff, get free admission by using an ID number.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's home and Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $108 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
Pirate basketball games are called by Bud Nameck who enters his 11th season as the voice of Whitworth basketball. An Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Famer, Nameck has more than 30 years of experience calling college basketball at Gonzaga University and Washington State.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-4) dropped a pair of games in California but responded with their first win of the season over Northwest (Wash.) to end the month of November.
The Bucs fell 85-55 to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 20th in the first of two games in California. Whitworth made 49.0% of its shots, almost eight percent better than CMS, but the Athenas forced 21 turnovers and made 13 three-pointers to take control. Ashlyn Peterson led the Pirates with 14 points on 7-11 shooting. CC Size led the team with six assists and Alex Goetz grabbed seven rebounds.
Whitworth wrapped up its California trip with a 59-52 loss to Pomona-Pitzer. After a 31-23 halftime deficit, the Bucs responded and gained a six-point advantage midway through the third. The Sagehens countered with a 14-0 run to retake a lead that wouldn't be given up. CC Size scored a basket to cut the deficit to three, but Pomona held the Pirates scoreless in the final two minutes. Whitworth shot 30.2% from the field and outrebounded the Sagehens 43-22. Peterson led all scorers with 20 points. Addyson Gallatin and Goetz each added nine.
The Pirate women returned to Washington and earned a 72-60 win over NAIA opponent Northwest on Nov. 25th. After allowing just six points in the second quarter, Whitworth took a 37-29 lead into halftime. The Bucs maintained the lead in the third quarter and nailed four long distance shots in the fourth to secure the win. Peterson led the offense with a season-high 24 points on 5-11 shooting from three-point range. Size (15), Gallatin (11) and Dunham (10) were each in double figures. Ava DePew paced the team with 12 rebounds and seven assists.
The Opponents: Benedictine makes its first trip to Spokane with a 6-3 overall record after a 78-58 loss to Aurora University on Wednesday. The Eagles return four All-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference players from a season ago, led by second team honoree Allison Jarvis who averages a team-high 12.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game at guard. Forward Hailey Bachmann and guards Alexis Schueler and Mackenzie Carroll were named honorable mention. Benedictine has shown a strong offense to start the season with 71.0 points per game. The Pirates will need to prevent second-chance points as the Eagles grab 15.8 offensive rebounds per game, second in the NACC.
UC Santa Cruz has a 4-6 record so far this season and will play a pair of SCIAC opponents this weekend prior to Wednesday's game at Whitworth. UCSC averages 63.0 points per game and shoots 42.7% from the field. They have a rebound margin of 8.4 but turn the ball over 20.2 times per contest. Like Whitworth, the Banana Slugs are a young team but return two 2024-25 second team All-Coast-to-Coast Conference players in Emilie Ngo and Claire Galbo. Ngo leads the team with 15.4 points per game and is sixth in Division III in assists per game (6.2). Galbo posts 12.7 points per game and leads the CTC conference with a 47.1 three-point percentage. The Pirates are 9-3 against UCSC dating back to 2003, but have lost the previous two matchups, the latest by a score of 53-38 in 2023.
Young Bucs: For the second consecutive season, the Whitworth women do not have a senior on their roster. Of the 15 players, 12 are freshmen or sophomores. Led by 2024-25 Northwest Conference Rookie of the Year Ashlyn Peterson, the Bucs young core has significant experience to build from as they look to take another jump this season.
The Coach: Kenny Love is in his fourth season as the Whitworth women's basketball coach. He moved over from the men's coaching staff in 2021 where he was an assistant coach since 2017. Love has a career head coaching record of 28-52 at Whitworth. Love himself is a former Pirate player who earned first team All-NWC recognition three times and was the 2015 NWC Player of the Year.
Up Next: The Whitworth women will take a trip to Honolulu to play in the Hoops in Hawaii Classic against St. Norbert College and Albion College on Dec. 21st and 22nd.
