Coupeville Sports

   The uniform may have changed for Makana Stone, but the production has not. (John Fisken photo)

First they moved up three slots in the polls, then they wrecked another foe.

Whitman College’s women’s basketball squad, which includes former Coupeville High School legend Makana Stone, routed visiting Whitworth 61-50 Tuesday night to improve to a flawless 7-0.

The Blues entered the night ranked #22 in the most recent Women’s Basketball Coaches Association D-3 poll.

Whitman rolled to its second straight Northwest Conference win, using a 34-18 run over the middle two quarters to turn a tied ball game into a 16-point advantage.

Stone snared three of her five rebounds during that surge, while also picking up a steal.

She hit a season low with just a single point, off of a fourth quarter free throw, but she had the second-most rebounds for Whitman as it controlled the boards to a 36-25 tune.

Whitman spread its scoring around, with three players hitting double figures.

Emily Rommel popped for 15, Chelsi Brewer banked home 11 and Maegen Martin knocked down 10.

Through seven games, Stone, who is averaging 17 minutes a game off the bench, is putting up 6.0 points and 5.6 rebounds a night.

She leads the team in shooting percentage at 54.5% (18 of 33) and has seven steals, six assists and two blocks.

Whitman’s next four games come tourney-style, two in Walla Walla and two in Honalulu.

The Blues will play in the Kim Evanger Raney Classic Dec. 9-10 at home, facing Louisiana College and Colorado College.

After that it’s off to the islands for the Hawaii Tournament Dec. 19-20, where their foes will be Occidental College and the University of the Redlands.

Whitman then takes a two-week-plus break between games, returning to conference play Jan. 6 against Linfield College.

The Blues close with 14 straight league games, the first four on their home court.