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Posts Tagged ‘Makana Stone’

Clear your schedule, post haste!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on March 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Makana Stone (23) answers the question, “Who’s playing in the Sweet 16 Friday?” (John Fisken photo)

The biggest game of Makana Stone’s relatively short college hoops career tips off Friday afternoon.

The Coupeville High School grad and her Whitman College teammates face Trinity University (Texas) in the third round of the NCAA D-III women’s basketball championships.

The Blues (25-4) are playing in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the home of St. Thomas University, and tip-off for the Sweet 16 contest is 3:30 PM Pacific time.

Knock off Trinity, the #7 team in the nation at 28-1, and Whitman advances to the Elite Eight Saturday, where it would face the winner of St. Thomas and Marymount (Virginia) for a trip to the Final Four.

Stone, who has played in 28 of 29 games this season, starting her last 12, is averaging 6.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a night.

She’s #2 on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage.

To stream the game live, pop over to:

http://tommiesports.com/broadcast/w7vf6i

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Sweet 16, here they come!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on March 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photos)

   Makana Stone roars back up court after scoring in the NCAA tourney. (John Fisken photos)

Eileen

The pro-Makana crowd likes what they see.

It's 3-on-1 and yet you know where that rebound is going -- right into Stone's hands.

   It’s 3-on-1 and yet you know where that rebound is going — right into Stone’s hands.

Makana

Staying vocal during her brief time on the bench.

Killers when it matters most.

After losing twice in overtime during the regular season to the University of Puget Sound, Whitman College roared back to knock off the Loggers twice in eight days under the biggest spotlight possible.

First came a win in the championship game of the Northwest Conference tournament, but Saturday night topped that.

Holding off a furious fourth-quarter comeback by the Loggers, the Blues and fab frosh Makana Stone stunned UPS 69-67 in the second round of the NCAA D-III basketball tourney.

That sends Whitman to the Sweet 16, where they will face Trinity (Texas) Mar. 10 at a still-to-be-decided spot.

The Blues are 25-4, while their next foes, who hail from San Antonio, are 28-1.

Whitman and Trinity share a unique bond, as they were the only schools to knock off Puget Sound (26-3) this season.

Trinity nipped the Loggers 68-65 at a mid-season tourney hosted by Whitman’s league rival, Pacific Lutheran University.

Puget Sound, which won the regular season title in the Northwest Conference, is a dangerous team and it almost pulled off an astounding comeback Saturday night.

Whitman had jumped out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter, then stretched it to 54-41 heading into the fourth.

UPS finally started scoring, but Whitman still had them seemingly at bay at 66-57, when the Loggers went nuclear from behind the arc.

Back-to-back three-balls cut the lead to 66-63, but Whitman’s ever-steady Casey Poe blunted the rally by knocking down a jumper with 34 seconds on the clock.

After a Poe free throw with 25 ticks left pushed the lead out to six, the Loggers hit one final trey before Whitman escaped.

Coupeville import Stone, making her 12th start of the season, went for four points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal in the win.

Maegen Martin came off the bench to pace Whitman with 16 points, while Chelsi Brewer popped for 14 and Emily Rommel rattled the rim for 11.

Stone has played in 28 of 29 games this season (missing one with an injury), scoring 193 points (6.9 a night) and snagging 175 rebounds (6.3).

She is #2 on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage, while also racking up 30 assists, 14 steals and 11 blocks.

 

To see the tourney bracket, pop over to:

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

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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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