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Posts Tagged ‘Whitman’

Stone, Blues clinch playoff berth

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on February 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone and Whitman clinched a playoff berth with a win Saturday. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Mission accomplished.

Sparked by a 12-point, 12-rebound performance from Coupeville’s Makana Stone, the Whitman College women’s basketball team swatted host Lewis & Clark College Saturday, setting up the biggest weekend of the season.

Rolling to a 73-58 victory in Portland, the Blues held on to first-place in the Northwest Conference at 11-1, while improving to 19-2 overall.

With the win, their seventh-straight, they clinch a playoff berth and can finish no lower than third in the nine-team league.

The top four teams square off in the conference postseason tourney, with #1 hosting #4 and #2 hosting #3, then the winners meeting in a game which decides the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Stone and Whitman have made it to the Northwest Conference tourney all four seasons she’s been on campus, but never as the #1 seed.

With their hearts set on a league title, the Blues control their own fate going forward, however.

Two games up on George Fox University (9-3, 17-4) and three ahead of freefalling Pacific University (8-4, 14-7), with four to play, Whitman faces those exact teams next weekend.

Both games will be at home in Walla Walla, where the Blues are 7-0, and go down Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15.

The second of those matchups is also Senior Night, where Stone, Mady Burdett, Lily Gustafson, Katie Stahl, and Natalie Whitesel will be honored.

Saturday could have been a trap game, with Lewis & Clark (now 1-11, 2-18) sitting in dead last-place in the Northwest Conference.

And it was for a half at least, as the Pioneers took advantage of a Whitman team that was unexpectedly ice-cold from the field.

Normally one of the best-shooting squads in the country, the Blues hit just 9-34 from the floor in the first half.

While Whitman still managed to scrape out a 14-12 lead after one quarter of play, the shooting woes intensified in the second frame, allowing Lewis & Clark to seize its first lead at 17-16.

From there, the Pioneers stretched the margin out to five, though the Blues cut it back to 27-24 on a nice play right before the end of the half.

Stone, directing traffic from the top of the arc, whipped a note-perfect pass over the top, finding teammate Kaylie McCracken for a layup and a brief burst of happiness for the visitors.

Things took a huge change after the break, as Whitman started to nail all of its shots, especially from the outside.

Tickling the twines for five three-balls in the third quarter — with Taylor Chambers and Kaelan Shamseldin nailing two apiece — the Blues erupted on a game-busting 27-10 run.

Stone gave Whitman a lead it wouldn’t lose with a pair of buckets in the paint, then made off with a steal that triggered a fast-break which ended with a Shamseldin trey.

Lewis & Clark, scrappy but painfully young, never got closer than 12 after that, with the Blues stretching the lead out as far as 20 near the end of the game.

McCracken came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points, while Stone added two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot to her 12 and 12 double-double.

On the season, the former Wolf has 332 points, 175 rebounds, 30 assists, 23 steals, and 18 blocks.

Stone is shooting 136-253 (53.8%) from the floor and 57-74 (77%) at the free throw line.

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Put another one in the win column

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (23) moved into 5th place on the Whitman College women’s basketball career scoring chart Friday, sparking the Blues to another league win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One step closer to that elusive league title.

Taking care of business on the front end of a two-game trip to Oregon, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad came out Friday night and polished off Willamette 72-54.

The victory, sparked by a 14-point, 9-rebound performance by Coupeville’s Makana Stone, lifts the Blues to 10-1 in Northwest Conference play, 18-2 overall.

Whitman, ranked #8 in NCAA D-III, is a game-and-a-half up on George Fox University (9-3, 17-4) and two ahead of Pacific University (8-3, 14-6).

The Blues, who have won six straight, go for a weekend sweep Saturday, when they jump from Salem to Portland to face cellar-dweller Lewis & Clark College (1-10, 2-17).

In Friday’s game Whitman struggled a bit in the early going, watching layup after layup slide off the rim.

Willamette netted a pair of long three-balls and led the entire way, heading to the first break up 13-9.

Jump forward a few minutes, and things started to finally click for the Blues.

Trailing 16-11, Whitman went off on a 10-0 run, with Stone dropping six points and Elena McHargue chipping in with four during the surge.

The first lead of the night for the Blues came at 17-16, off of a play on which Stone rolled hard to the hoop, pulled in a lob and slapped home the layup with great emphasis.

While Willamette managed to get back to a 21-21 tie, for a moment at least, the host Bearcats would never lead again on this night.

Up 28-25 at the half, Whitman put the game on ice with a 12-3 run to end the third quarter, stretching the margin out to 49-36.

Stone and Taylor Chambers each banked in five points during the display of run ‘n gun fun times, with the former Coupeville ace moving into 5th place on the Whitman women’s career scoring list with her next-to-last bucket.

The fourth quarter was about getting a fair amount of playing time for the Blues reserves, as Whitman pushed the lead all the way out to 20 points, then sauntered in with the win.

Stone’s 14 points topped the Blues, while her nine boards were a game-high. She also added two steals, an assist, and a thunderous block off the back wall.

Whitman, as usual, had very-balanced scoring, with Kaylie McCracken (12), Mady Burdett (11), Elena McHargue (9), and Lily Gustafson (9) all having strong nights.

On the season, Stone has 320 points, 163 rebounds, 28 assists, 22 steals, and 17 blocked shots, while shooting 131-242 (54.1%) from the floor and 55-72 (76.3%) at the free-throw line.

With 1,247 points and counting, the CHS grad passed Erica Aydelotte (1,243) Friday, and trails just Katie Rubenser (1,693), Jennifer McClure (1,639), Heather Johns (1,411), and Sarah Anderegg (1,342) on Whitman’s career scoring chart.

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Third time’s still a charm

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on February 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Whitman senior Makana Stone (23) was tabbed as the Northwest Conference Female Basketball Player of the Week Monday, the third time this season she’s been honored. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She’s kind of popular.

Coupeville grad Makana Stone was hailed Monday by the Northwest Conference, earning her third Student/Athlete of the Week honor during the 2019-2020 basketball season.

The Whitman College senior tore up the floor in Tacoma this past weekend, leading her squad to back-to-back road wins and sole possession of first-place atop the league standings.

The Blues, ranked #9 in NCAA D-III women’s basketball, are 9-1 in conference action, 17-2 overall.

Stone put up back-to-back double-doubles, opening with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance Friday against Pacific Lutheran University.

The next day against the University of Puget Sound, she was even better, snatching 13 boards, while pouring in 30 points, her collegiate career high.

Stone was one of four NWC athletes honored Monday, as Ben College of Whitworth (men’s basketball), Kelli Callahan of UPS (women’s swim), and Dylan Reimers of UPS (men’s swim) joined her.

Across the 12 weeks of the basketball season, seven female hoops stars have been honored, with Stone and Molly Danielson of Linfield each getting the award three times apiece.

The former Coupeville ace has been tabbed for her league’s top honor in weeks five, eight, and 12.

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Call her a Stone cold killer

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on February 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone torched the University of Puget Sound for 30 points Saturday, her collegiate career high. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She didn’t start, but she finished.

And how.

Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Coupeville’s Makana Stone threw down 30 points Saturday in Tacoma — her collegiate career high — powering Whitman College to a big road win.

The former Wolf also snagged a game-high 13 rebounds, despite the fact she and Mady Burdett, Whitman’s undisputed star combo, didn’t enter the contest until almost seven minutes in.

Even with a late start, the duo were more than enough to power Whitman to a 59-47 win over the University of Puget Sound, in a game which was closer than the score might sound.

With the victory, the Blues return to Walla Walla with a weekend sweep, an active five-game winning streak, and sole possession of first-place in the Northwest Conference.

Whitman, ranked #9 in NCAA D-III women’s basketball, is 9-1 in league action, 17-2 overall.

Pacific University, which entered play Saturday tied with Whitman, stumbled against Linfield, falling 61-56.

With a second loss in its last three games, the Boxers are now 8-2, 14-5, a game back of the Blues with six to play.

Saturday’s rumble in Tacoma was a close affair through three-plus quarters, as UPS hung tough with high-flying Whitman.

The game was 10-7 in favor of the home team when Stone and Burdett popped up off the bench and hit the floor for the visitors, and Coupeville’s progeny was locked and loaded from the get-go.

Once in the game, she stayed there, playing 31 of the game’s final 33 minutes.

Stone whirled and hit a sweet pull-up jumper over a defender who was two steps late to kick things off, eventually ripping off nine straight points for Whitman.

She finished the first half with 13 points, including nailing another jumper to knot things at 26-26 heading into the halftime locker room, but the best was yet to come.

The former Wolf star, playing in front of a contingent of Coupeville fans who ventured into the big city, rained down another eight points in the third quarter, then wrapped things up with nine more in a game-deciding final frame.

Whitman clung to a 40-38 lead headed into the fourth, and still led just 47-44 late in the game.

Enter Makana, and exit the Loggers.

Finishing with a flourish, Stone banked in seven points across the final three minutes, spurring Whitman on a 12-3 surge to close the game.

She flew past the defense, hauled in a pass and slapped home a vicious layup to kill the spirit of every UPS fan in the joint, tossed in a few free throws to ice things, then hit the big 3-0 with a breakaway layup right before the buzzer.

Whitman ended up needing every one of Stone’s points, as Saturday was the rare time this season when the Blues had only one player finish with double-digits scoring.

Lily Gustafson (7 points), Kaylie McCracken (6), and Burdett (5) chipped in with some key buckets to back up their star on her big night.

On the season, Stone sits with 306 points, 154 rebounds, 27 assists, 20 steals, and 16 blocked shots.

The Whitman senior, who is 11 points shy of moving into 5th place on the Whitman women’s career scoring list, has hit 126-233 (54.1%) from the field and 51-66 (77.2%) from the free-throw stripe.

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More milestones, another win

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone collected 12 points and 11 rebounds Friday as Whitman won its fourth-straight. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Rollin’ right along.

Sparked by a strong second-half performance Friday, the Whitman College women’s basketball team claimed its fourth-straight win and stayed in a first-place tie atop the Northwest Conference.

Led by a 12-point, 11-rebound performance by Coupeville’s Makana Stone, the Blues held off pesky Pacific Lutheran University 63-51 to kick off a two-day trip to Tacoma.

With the victory, Whitman improves to 8-1 in league play, 16-2 overall, and remains deadlocked with Pacific University (8-1, 14-4) atop the nine-team league.

Stone and Co. get right back at it Saturday, when they play an afternoon game at the University of Puget Sound (3-6, 9-9).

Friday’s rumble was a taut one, as the two teams battled through a tense first half.

Up 16-15 at the first break, Whitman used a couple of key second-quarter buckets from Stone to stretch the lead out to 30-26 at the half.

From there, a 20-11 surge in the third quarter put the Blues safely ahead, and they strolled in with the win.

Whitman stung PLU with balanced scoring, as four different players reached double digits on the night.

Outside sniper Kaelan Shamseldin paced the Blues with 14 points, while Kaylie McCracken (13), Stone (12), and Mady Burdett (11) joined the fun.

Coupeville’s progeny snared a game-high 11 boards and doled out a pair of assists in 34 minutes of action.

On the season Stone sits with 276 points, 141 rebounds, 27 assists, 20 steals, and 16 blocked shots, while shooting 114-216 from the floor and 45-58 at the line.

The former Wolf, a senior for the Blues, hit three career milestones Friday, recording her 1,200th point, 750th rebound and 150th assist.

With 1,203 points and counting, Stone is the sixth-highest scoring player in Whitman women’s basketball history, just 41 points away from moving to #5 all-time.

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