College basketball star Makana Stone hangs out with always-supportive big bro Andre in Hawaii. (Eileen Stone photo)
If Whitman College is going to lose a women’s basketball game during the 2016-2017 season, it’ll have to wait until next year.
Closing out the ’16 portion of the schedule Tuesday, the Blues pulled away in the second half to claim a resounding 63-42 victory over the University of Redlands.
The victory, coming on day two of the Hoops in Hawaii Classic, lifts Whitman to 11-0.
The Blues, and fab frosh/Coupeville High School grad Makana Stone, don’t play again until Jan. 6.
By then, they’ll have trekked 2,800 miles home to Walla Walla, where they’ll kick off a four-game home-stand with a bout against Northwest Conference foe Linfield.
Whitman, which is 2-0 in league play, closes its regular season with 14 straight conference games.
Tuesday night’s game was close, for a quarter, as Whitman and Redlands were knotted at 14 at the first break.
After that the Blues steadily pulled away, opening a five-point lead at the half, stretching it to 11 after three, then closing with a 16-6 advantage in the fourth.
Stone, who has been a vital force for Whitman off the bench this season, was held scoreless for the first time as a college player Tuesday.
She did make off with a steal, though, which led to a bucket by teammate Casey Poe, part of her team-high 15 on the night.
Through 11 games, Stone is averaging 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds a night.
The frosh is #3 on the Blues squad in hauling down caroms, and remains #1 in field goal percentage, hitting 51.9% (27-52) of her shots.
Coupeville Sports 