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Archive for the ‘Wolves in college’ Category

Big stage, big win!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on March 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (Eileen Stone photo)

Makana Stone, hoops sensation. (Eileen Stone photo)

One step closer to a national title.

Knocking off Northwest Conference foe George Fox University for a third time this season, Coupeville grad Makana Stone and the Whitman College women’s basketball squad rolled into the second round of the NCAA D-III tourney.

Playing in Tacoma Friday night, the Blues upended the Bruins 76-72.

They’ll play either Puget Sound or UC Santa Cruz 7 PM Saturday night on the same court at Memorial Fieldhouse, with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16 the next weekend.

Friday night Whitman (24-4) blew out to a 26-10 lead midway through the second quarter, hit a rough spot and gave much of the lead back, but never completely faltered.

George Fox knotted things up at 71-71 with just 47 seconds on the clock, but the Blues were ruthless in closing out the tourney win.

Chelsi Brewer capped a 20-point night by swishing a three-ball to put Whitman back on top, before Casey Poe slid a pair of free throws through the twines with nine seconds to play to ice the victory.

Stone, making her 11th start as a college player, was a big factor, throwing down 14 points and snatching a game-high 10 rebounds.

She was especially effective in the third quarter, when she converted three straight layups to spark a Whitman run which stretched a one-point lead back out to seven.

Stone also picked up a pair of assists in the second quarter, setting up buckets by Emily Rommel and Lily Gustafson.

Through 27 games (she missed one while in a concussion protocol), the former Wolf has collected 189 points (7.0 a night) and 169 rebounds (6.3).

She also has 29 assists, 13 steals and 11 blocks.

Her stats put Stone #2 on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage (49.7% on 83 of 167).

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Stone dips into March Madness!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on February 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photo)

   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:

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/basketball-women/d3

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Stone cold champs!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)

   Makana Stone, seen here last season, had 10 points and 11 rebounds Saturday as Whitman won the Northwest Conference tournament. (Sylvia Hurlburt photos)

Puget Sound sign-makers discover the folly of their ways.

Puget Sound sign-makers regret their choices in life.

Makana and Sylvia, reunited and it feels so good.

Makana and Sylvia, reunited and it feels so good.

They won when it mattered most.

Avenging two regular-season overtime losses, the Whitman College women’s basketball team shocked Puget Sound 81-72 Saturday in the championship game of the Northwest Conference tourney.

The win, coming on the road at Tacoma, lifts the Blues to 23-4, while snapping an 18-game win streak for the Loggers (25-2).

It also punches Whitman’s ticket to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championships for the first time since 2014.

Back then, the school, still playing as the Missionaries, finished second in the nation, falling 80-72 to undefeated FDU-Florham in the national championship game.

One player, Alysse Ketner, connects both Whitman squads.

She was a freshman reserve in 2014 and is a senior starter now for the team, which adopted a new mascot this season.

One of the biggest keys to Saturday’s win? A first-year player who came to the school just as it made the switch from Missionaries to Blues.

I speak of that rampaging Wolf of yore, Coupeville grad Makana Stone, who threw down 10 points and snatched a game-high 11 rebounds in the tourney title tilt.

The former Wolf garnered eight points and five rebounds during a mid-game hot streak that turned around Whitman’s fortunes.

Puget Sound, which won the first two meetings this season 73-71 and 89-82, bolted out to a 21-9 advantage after one quarter Saturday night.

Not to be deterred, the steady Blues chipped away at the lead with a 26-16 run in the second, then broke UPS with a 25-12 surge in the third quarter.

Five Whitman players landed in double figures in the scoring book, led by Chelsi Brewer with 19 and Casey Poe with 17.

Stone, who hauled in eight of her rebounds in the second half, out-dueled Puget Sound’s Jamie Lange, the league’s Freshman of the Year, to lead all players in cleaning the glass.

She also had two assists, setting up Mady Burdett and Emily Rommel on back-to-back buckets in the first quarter.

For the season, Stone has played in 26 of 27 games, starting 10. She has 175 points (6.7 a night), 159 rebounds (6.1), 27 assists, 13 steals and 11 blocks.

Whitman will find out its postseason path when the NCAA tourney bracket is announced Monday morning.

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The big payback!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone

   CHS grad Makana Stone (left) is joined by fellow fab frosh Mady Burdett (middle) and Annissia Hughes.

Sweet redemption.

Just five days after it lost its regular season finale, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad rebounded Thursday to knock that same foe out of the playoffs.

The Blues, playing on the road in Newberg, OR, beat George Fox University 78-71 in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Women’s Tournament.

Whitman (22-4) advances to play Puget Sound (25-1) in Tacoma 7 PM Saturday.

The Loggers almost didn’t make it to the championship game, which would have been a huge shock.

They were forced to rally from 10 points down with four minutes to play against Lewis & Clark, escaping with a 61-58 win.

The winning points came on a three-point play the hard way (bucket and free throw) from Jamie Lange, the league’s Freshman of the Year, with just 10 seconds to play.

Over in Oregon, the other semifinal matched teams with identical records that had split games during the regular season.

Whitman won 82-74 in Oregon Jan. 22, before George Fox upended the Blues 65-62 Feb. 18 in Walla Walla.

Thursday’s game started in favor of the Bruins, who built a 37-33 lead at the half, before Whitman stormed back in the second half.

A 23-15 third quarter gave the Blues the lead and they never relinquished it after that.

Coupeville High School grad Makana Stone, making the ninth start of her freshman season, dropped in 10 points and snatched seven boards in 31 minutes of action.

It was the second time the former Wolf has broken the 30-minute barrier this season (she played 35 minutes against Louisiana College in Dec.) and she used her time well.

Stone scored in every quarter, tickling the twines with three silky jumpers and two layups.

She was one of four Blues to hit double digits in scoring, with Chelsi Brewer (20), Casey Poe (15) and Emily Rommel (15) also wielding a hot shooting touch.

On the season, Stone has seen action in 25 of 26 games (missing one because of concussion protocol) and has racked up 165 points and 148 rebounds.

She’s #2 on the squad in rebounding and field goal percentage and has 25 assists, 11 blocks and 13 steals on her stat sheet.

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Stone rock-solid to the end!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone, seen here during her senior season at CHS, has been a dynamo on the college hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone, seen here during her senior season at CHS, has been a dynamo on the college hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

Makana Stone would not go down without a fight.

The Coupeville grad scored her team’s final eight points Saturday, but not even her late-game heroics could save Whitman College in its regular season women’s basketball finale.

When teammate Mady Burdett’s three-ball at the buzzer bounced off the rim, the Blues fell 65-62, settling for third-place in the final Northwest Conference standings.

Whitman closes regular season play at 12-4 in league, 21-4 overall.

George Fox (13-3, 21-4), which avenged an earlier loss to the Blues, finish runner-ups behind Puget Sound (16-0, 24-1).

Those three teams, and fourth-place Lewis & Clark (9-7, 16-9), advance to the league tourney.

Whitman travels to Newberg, Oregon Thursday, Feb. 23 for an immediate rematch with George Fox.

Win that game and the Blues advance to the championship game Feb. 25, where they would play the winner of Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark.

Making her eighth start as a freshman, Stone threw down 11 points, snatched five rebounds and delivered two crushing blocks.

The rejections both came in the first quarter, as Whitman roared out to a 9-0 lead in the early going, before faltering a bit.

George Fox knotted the game at 18-18 after one quarter, and things remained tied 31-31 at the half.

A 22-18 third quarter run by the visitors was the difference, and the Bruins were still clinging to a 60-54 lead with 2:58 to play when Stone went to work.

She went on an 8-2 run by herself, draining a jumper, netting a pair of free throws, slapping down a layup, then pulling up for another jumper which tied the game at 62-62.

Stone’s final bucket, coming off an assist by Casey Poe, rattled home with 54 ticks on the clock.

George Fox answered with a Kaycee Creech lay-in at the 0:38 mark, then added one of two free throws with 11 seconds left to stretch out the final margin.

Whitman’s final two shots, both of which clanged off, came from veteran players and not their red-hot freshman.

As she and her teammates head into the postseason, Stone has 155 points (6.5 a night) and 141 rebounds (5.9) on the year.

She’s #2 on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage (51.5% on 68 of 132), and has collected 24 assists, 11 blocks and 12 steals.

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