Whitman Wins Nail-Biter Against Linfield to Make NWC Championship Game
Whitman’s Women’s Basketball (No. 1 seed) beat Linfield (No. 4 seed) in their first game of the Northwest Conference Tournament, continuing their fight to win the Championship and compete in the NCAA tournament. In a game that was tight until the end, Whitman beat Linfield 65-55, with Carly Martin leading the team in scoring, amassing a stunning 24 points.
The game was a story of individual quarters. Whitman shot 37.5% from the field in the first quarter, 70% in the second, 20% in the third, and 50% in the fourth. Through the first three quarters, Whitman went 0-8 from the 3 point range, then finally hitting 3 long range shots within the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
The heart of Whitman’s fight initially floundered, but ultimately succeeded in these shooting struggles.
“We were really struggling to get perimeter shots in. When we quit taking those, that kind of grinded us back into it,” Head Coach Michelle Ferenz said. “We just didn’t shoot very well tonight. So, we’ll play a different game tomorrow.”
Despite their tough first quarter, where senior forward Lindsey Drango got two early fouls, the team rallied and fought back in the second quarter. Sophomore guard Holly Morgan hit two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left to bring the game within a point. A subsequent steal from senior guard Natalie Lundberg led to a buzzer-beating layup from Morgan, taking the team into half-time with a one point lead.
“Our momentum was shifting towards the end, which put us in good spirits going into the locker room. It made me feel a little grounded,” said Morgan. “We just felt settled. It was just nice to lift and run off to the team locker room and just cheer.”
With Whitman struggling after a tight first half, the Blues’ audience pulled together and rooted, loudly, for their team. Fans painted “Go Whitman” on their stomachs, and others barked when Linfield lined up for free throws. Whether this directly influenced Linfield’s multiple missed shots is up for debate, but the energetic support from students didn’t go unnoticed by the Blues, who ran up to the bleachers to celebrate their win.
Senior guard Carly Martin, 2023-2024 First Team All-Northwest Conference, said the crowd fueled the team’s performance.
“Having that crowd there was insane,” said Martin, “when there’s a crowd there, I mean it gets us energized, it gets everyone energized. And when something like that happens, the momentum can really shift and the crowd was really the reason that happened.”
Martin took the game by the horns in the last 5 minutes, shooting 3-4 from beyond the arch, including an incredible stepback for her third 3-pointer, all but securing the game and forcing Linfield to send Whitman to the foul line for the remainder of the game.
“It’s nice to know that I have teammates around me who trust me to take those shots,” said Martin. “I mean, anyone can make them. I guess today it just happened to me. It’s nice to see a couple go in.”
On Saturday, March 1st, the Women’s Team will compete again, this time against George Fox University for the Northwestern Championship title. George Fox has presented trouble for this Whitman team over the course of the season.
“We had a good lead [against George Fox], they battled back. Both games, same thing. They’re not gonna win it for us,” Ferenz said. “They run a completely different type of team than Linfield in terms of what they try to do offensively, so it’ll be a challenge that way. We’ll come in tomorrow and refresh our kids on how to attack it. We can’t have the empty offensive possessions we had tonight. I think it’ll come down to that.”
