Makana Stone and Whitman are cruising into the NCAA D-III national tourney. (John Fisken photo)
The road to a national title will start with a familiar foe.
Whitman College, having received an automatic bid to the NCAA D-III Women’s Basketball National Tournament, will open play in Tacoma Friday against Northwest Conference rival George Fox.
The Blues (23-4) and Bruins (21-5) will be facing off for the fourth time this season, and third in the last two weeks.
Whitman, sparked by Coupeville grad Makana Stone, won two of three against George Fox, most recently knocking them out of the league tourney.
The other two teams playing in Tacoma Friday are site host Puget Sound (25-2), which won the NWC regular season title but was upended in the postseason tourney by Whitman, and the University of California-Santa Cruz (13-10).
Friday’s winners meet Saturday at the same regional, with the victor advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
There are four 27-0 teams in the 64-team tourney, with Amherst ranked #1 overall. Ohio Northern, Thomas More and St. Thomas (MN) are the other three unbeatens.
If Whitman gets on a roll, the earliest it could face an undefeated squad would be an Elite Eight match-up with St. Thomas.
The other three schools with perfect records sit on the opposite side of the bracket.
Stone made the jump from two-time Olympic League MVP in high school to college sensation with relative ease.
She’s played in 26 of 27 games (sitting out once for a concussion protocol), starting the last 10.
Stone has gone for 175 points (6.7 a night), 159 rebounds (6.1), 27 assists, 13 steals and 11 blocks. She’s #2 on the Blues in rebounding and field goal percentage (49% on 76 of 154 from the field).
To see the bracket, pop over to:
Coupeville Sports 
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