Despite a valiant effort, the Whitman women’s basketball team suffered a thrashing at the hands of George Fox in their first playoff game since the 05-06 season. Losing 85-47, the game put an end to an otherwise solid season.

The game was never really close, with George Fox surging to a 10-point lead in the opening minutes and maintaining a cushion of no less than 26 points throughout the game.

“George Fox was not one of our best games,” said first-year player Jennifer Keyes. “I think we were all a little disappointed with the way the game turned out and the way our season ended. I think we all believed we could compete with them and even beat them. They are undefeated and they are   a good team but I think they were definitely beata

ble : we just weren’t the team to beat them.”

With the loss, the players were able to reflect on the season.

In a preseason coaches’ poll, the Whitman women were picked to finish first in the Northwest Conference, ahead of both George Fox and rival UPS.

“It was flattering to be picked number one but we all knew that we still had to prove ourselves to the rest of the league,” said Keyes. “I think it gave us some confidence to start the season with but it also put a little bit of a target on us going into it as the team to beat.”

In a preseason game against Washington University Whitman proved they deserved their number one ranking, handing the Bears a 72-60 loss.

At the time, Washington (St. Louis) was ranked ninth in the nation. They would go onto win the University Athletic Association (UAA) championship and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“My favorite game, and I’m sure most girls on the team agree, was against Washington University in preseason,” said junior Michelle Krall. “They were ranked and we all came out with energy to play the game we know how to play and we beat them.”

Midway through the season, the team hit a few speed bumps, dropping three consecutive games to conference rivals Lewis and Clark, Pacific, and George Fox.

The team rebounded, winning five of their next six conference games to finish the season at 18-8.

“I think we just reached a point where we were all getting tired and we lost a little bit of the continuity that we started the season with,” said Keyes about the string of losses. “It took us a couple of weeks, a couple of games to get back on track, but we eventually did.”

Looking ahead to next season, the team is excited to get into the weight room and to improve on their game.

“What’s done is done,” said Keyes, “Now we’ll just have to get back in the gym and the weight room in the off-season to get better for next year.”

With no seniors, Whitman will return every player on this year’s roster. That continuity will be an advantage for the Missionaries come next season.