Willamette Set For Eastern Washington Road Trip This Weekend

By Timothy Walsh, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University's women's basketball team will travel to Eastern Washington this weekend for road games against Northwest Conference foes Whitworth University and Whitman College.

The Whitworth Pirates are 10-5 on the season and 3-3 in NWC play, good enough for fourth place. The Whitman Missionaries are currently in sole possession of third place with an 11-3 overall record, including 4-2 in the NWC.

You can follow all of the Bearcats' action through Live Audio Webcasts on the Bearcat Network. All of Willamette's 2012-13 NWC basketball games are being webcast, with road games featuring audio only. Audio and video is available during home games. Full Access Sports is the Bearcats' webcast provider.

Live video streams of the game will be provided by both Whitworth and Whitman. Please note that Whitman's broadcast must be purchased. Live Stats are available through both Whitworth and Whitman's websites as well.

The Bearcats enter the weekend with a record of 0-14 on the year and 0-5 in the NWC, but are coming off a close 54-50 loss at Pacific Lutheran last Saturday.

WU surged out to a 26-18 halftime lead, but the Lutes came roaring back in the second half, taking the lead for good with 14:37 remaining. After a late Bearcat charge cut PLU's lead to just 48-45 with 2:17 remaining, the Lutes connected on 6 of 9 free throws in the final 1:05 to seal the win.

Mackenzie Lamson (Jr., F, Portland, OR/Lincoln HS), Willamette's leading scorer on the season (10.2 avg.), led the Bearcats against PLU with 13 points and six rebounds.

Katie Kalugin (So., F, Woodburn, OR/Woodburn HS) chipped in 10 points. Kalugin is WU's second-leading scorer, averaging 7.6 points per game. Jojo DeLong (So., G, Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon HS) is averaging a team-leading 3.4 assists per game (47 total), which ranks third in the NWC.

Whitworth has split its last two games, both against nationally-ranked opponents. Last Tuesday, the Pirates earned a stunning 59-56 victory over then-19th ranked Whitman, before falling 70-59 to 23rd-ranked George Fox on Saturday.

Friday night's matchup will be the 60th all-time meeting between Willamette and Whitworth. The Pirates currently own a 43-16 advantage in the series.

Whitman, who began the season on an 11-1 tear and surged to as high as 19th in D3hoops.com's top 25 poll, has dropped out of the rankings following Whitworth's upset victory and a 50-38 loss at George Fox.

The Bearcats last defeated the Missionaries on Feb. 17, 2007, in Walla Walla.