With only an eight-player rotation that featured three first-years, the Whitman women handed the Wolves of Walla Walla University a lopsided 76-28 loss last night on their home floor, the Wolf Den.
As the teams took the court, the physical disadvantage was readily apparent. Only two active players on the entire Wolves’ roster were above 5′ 7″ as opposed to the imposing 6’3″ frames of sophomore Kirsten Vaculik and junior Rebecca Sexton.
Immediately after the tip off, Whitman jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and never looked back.
To say the Wolves played poorly is like saying Brett Farve is God: it’s an understatement. The Wolves lacked any semblance of direction on both ends of the court. There was no apparent offensive game plan. Their play was lackadaisical. And they were called on numerous shot clock violations. Recognizing the lack of an offensive threat, the Missionaries applied the full court pressure, stifling their opponents and outscoring them 22-7.
Midway through the first half, the Missionaries eased into a zone, daring their opponents to take a shot and exploiting the lazy careless passes of the Walla Walla Wolves.
Except for two free throws, the Whitman women held the Wolves scoreless for the last eight minutes of the first half. Junior Jessica Brice nailed a three-pointer in the corner in the closing seconds, giving Whitman a 47-13 advantage going into halftime.
The second half was not much different. Unfortunately for all the spectators, there was no miracle comeback in store for the Wolves.
Defense seemed to be the emphasis though, as Whitman came out of the gates, a talkative group, very active on defense. They shifted to a man-to-man scheme that forced three consecutive turnovers to start the half, and forced just 20 percent shooting for the Wolves.
“We mixed it up a bit. We didn’t pressure so much [in the 2nd half]. It was an opportunity to try a few things,” said Head Coach Michelle Ferenz.
With seven minutes left in the game, junior Anna Forge picked a lazy pass, and led the fast break up-court. She bounce passed to senior Hilary White who cut into the lane for an uncontested lay-up to cap a 17-4 run by the Missionaries and that’s the kind of night it was for White and the Missionaries.
Except for a play here and a shot there, the Wolves were outmatched in every way conceivable.
Forge played an outstanding all-around game with eight points, six rebounds, four assists, plus seven steals on the night. Brice sparked the offense, as she dished out 10 assists to go with her seven points. And White was sensational, scoring 10 consecutive Whitman points on two lay-ups, four free-throws and a three-pointer. She ended the night with 21 points, two assists and nine rebounds.
Sexton, Vaculik and first-year Mary Madden provided a very solid presence in the post. Combined, they had 32 points and 18 rebounds as they swamped the Wolves, the final score reading 76-28.
With the win, the Whitman women climb above .500 for the first time this season, boasting a 4-3 record overall outside their Northwest Conference schedule.
Despite the disappointing 1-3 start, the struggle has been more than just winning games. The Whitman women have been plagued with injury bug and have only had two days of practice with all 12 players on the court. With potential season-ending injuries for sophomore Jennifer Keyes, junior Janele Peterson and senior Michelle Krall, the rest of the team has had to readjust.
“The expectations for the team are really high but we’ve been annihilated by injury. We’re going to have redefine ourselves,” Ferenz said. “We don’t have the depth we thought we would. We could potentially have just nine players, with two freshmen splitting time at the point. It’s really hard to redefine ourselves in December but it’s better than trying to redefine ourselves in January during conference play.”
