“You can’t contain us! You can’t beat us!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
One win away from punching a guaranteed ticket to the big dance.
The Whitman College women’s basketball team jumped out quickly Thursday on the University of Puget Sound, then held off a late rally to claim a 72-66 home win in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference postseason tourney.
With the win, their 12th straight, the Blues improve to 24-2 and advance to the championship game of the NWC tourney.
They’ll face arch-rival George Fox University (20-6) Saturday, after the Bruins upended Pacific University 56-47.
The winner claims an automatic berth to the 64-team NCAA D-III national championships, which run March 6-22, while the loser waits to see if they can nab an at-large bid.
Win or lose Saturday, it seems all but certain Whitman, currently ranked #7 in the nation, will be part of March Madness.
It would be the third trip to the big dance in four years for the Blues seniors – Lily Gustafson, Mady Burdett, Katie Stahl, Natalie Whitsel, and Coupeville grad Makana Stone.
Whitman advanced all the way to the Elite Eight during their freshman campaign in 2016-2017, and the group is a stellar 92-19 overall since arriving in Walla Walla.
Thursday’s game was one in which Whitman almost pulled away several times, only to have a pesky Puget Sound squad mount mini-comeback after mini-comeback.
Blues gunner Kaelan Shamseldin opened the game with a three-ball, before Stone slapped home back-to-back layups to stake Whitman to a 7-3 lead.
After the game’s one and only tie at 3-3, the Blues led the entire night.
Up 15-5 after one quarter, Whitman stretched the lead out to 33-20 midway through the second quarter, with Stone once again stepping up.
The Northwest Conference Player of the Year hit a jumper and a free throw, then made off with a steal to set up a potentially game-busting jumper from Kaylie McCracken.
But it wasn’t to be, as UPS closed within eight at the half (38-30), fell behind by 13 in the third, then roared all the way back within four points with under two minutes to play.
Clinging to a 68-64 lead, Whitman put the ball in Burdett’s hands, and the sweet-shootin’ assassin from Edmonds closed the game by rippling the nets on four consecutive free throws to cap a team-high 16-point performance.
The Blues only got scoring from six players, but four of those finished in double-digits.
McCracken pumped in 15, Gustafson banked home 13, Shamseldin made the nets jump for 12, and Taylor Chambers popped for nine.
Hampered by foul trouble all night, Stone had a relatively quiet night, finishing with seven points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in just 26 minutes of action.
Also having a very muted game was Puget Sound’s First-Team All-Conference player Jamie Lange, a double-double machine who was held to just eight points and three rebounds in her collegiate swan song.
On the season, Stone sits with 405 points, 220 rebounds, 37 assists, 26 steals, and 25 blocked shots, while shooting 166-313 (53%) from the floor and 70-88 (79.5%) from the free throw line.
The 405 points is the 10th best individual scoring season by a Whitman women’s player.
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