Bearcats Knock Off #9 Whitman, 62-55, will Play Blues again in NWC Semifinal

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Britanny Kochenderfer (Jr., G, Klamath Falls, OR/Henley HS/Idaho State Univ.) scored a career-high 24 points, and Kylie Towry (Sr., G, Medford, OR/South Medford HS) contributed 17 points, as the Willamette University Bearcats gave #9-ranked Whitman College its third loss of the season, 62-55, at the Sherwood Athletic Center. The Bearcats shot 50.0% from the field and limited the Blues to 36.1% field goals shooting.

Willamette upped its record to 15-9 overall, 11-4 in the Northwest Conference. Whitman, ranked #9 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, fell to 21-3 overall, 13-2 in the NWC. The Bearcats and the Blues will meet again in Walla Walla in an NWC Tournament semifinal game on Thursday, Feb. 22. George Fox University, which defeated Lewis & Clark College, 81-58, on Friday, leads the NWC standings at 14-1. The Bruins are ranked #15 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 and are 21-3 on the season.

GFU will win the NWC title outright if the Bruins defeat Pacific University on Saturday in Newberg, Oregon. If the Bruins lose and Whitman defeats Linfield College on Saturday in Walla Walla, GFU and the Blues will tie for first place. The two teams split their two regular season meetings, but George Fox would win the tie-breaker for the tournament's top seed by virtue of a 2-0 record against the third place team, Willamette, while Whitman went 1-1 against the Bearcats.

In the NWC Tournament semifinals on Thursday, Willamette (#3 seed) will play at Whitman (#2 seed) and George Fox (#1 seed) will host the #4 seed (TBA). The winners will meet on the home court of th higher remaining seed on Saturday, Feb. 24. Willamette is making its first NWC Tournament appearance since the 2000-01 season. The NWC Tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

"Whitman is a tough place to play, but we came into this game knowing that as long as we stuck together as a team, anything could happen," Willamette Head Coach Peg Swadener said. "We did a great job executing on both ends of the floor, and I'm really pleased with how we kept our composure down the stretch. This is a great time to be playing our best basketball."

Kochenderfer's 24 points surpassed her previous high of 22 scored against Linfield College on Jan. 30, 2018. On Friday, she was 9 of 12 from the field, including 3 for 3 on three-point shots. She provided WU with four rebounds, three steals, one assist and one blocked shot. Towry was 7 of 15 from the field while hitting a pair of 3-pointers. She grabbed eight rebounds, earned two steals and supplied one assist.

Ashley Evans (Sr., PG, Canby, OR/Canby HS) scored eight points and dished out five assists for the Bearcats, while Jada Leonard (Fr., G, Kent, WA/Kentlake HS) finished with seven points and seven boards. Leonard latched onto five of Willamette's 10 offensive boards. The Bearcats outrebounded the Blues, 35-28.

Casey Poe topped Whitman with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.. She also recorded eight assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. Mady Burdett achieved 14 points, while hitting 5 of 8 shots, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Emily Rommel chipped in eight points and two steals. Makana Stone earned eight rebounds, but hit just 1 of 11 field goals.

Willamette scored the first four points of the game and held a 7-2 lead following a 3-pointer by Evans with 7:18 left in the opening quarter. WU scored eight of the next 12 points, ending with a traditional three-point play by Evans to take a 15-6 advantage at the 3:29 mark. Whitman reduced the margin to 19-14 late in the quarter on a 3-pointer by Kaelan Shamseldin.

The Bearcats went on a 5-0 run in the first minute of the second quarter, as Kochenderfer scored on a 3-pointer and a layup to give Willamette a 24-14 lead. The Blues scored the next three points, but the Bearcats were in front 28-17 a bit later after Towry put in a layup with 5:59 remaining in the half. Willamette led 34-22 on a pair of free throws by Evans with 27 seconds to go. Maegen Martin scored on a layup for Whitman with 14 seconds left.

With 6:32 remaining in the third quarter, Willamette was in front by 13 points at 43-30 after Kochenderfer scored seven of the Bearcats' first nine points of the second half. Whitman countered with an 11-3 run that reduced the lead to 46-41 with 2:15 on the clock. The surge by the Blues started with a 3-pointer by Brudett and included four points from Poe.

Willamette recovered to take a 51-41 advantage on a layup by Leonard with 15 seconds left, but Sierrea McGarity sank a 3-pointer for Whitman to pull the Blues within 51-44 at the end of the quarter.

The Bearcats extended their lead to 59-44 with an 8-0 run during the first 6:33 of the fourth period. The run began with Kochenderfer scoring on a jumper and hitting 1 of 2 free throws on a later possession. It also included Leonard's first 3-pointer of the season, and ended with a layup by Towry.

Whitman fought back with an 11-1 run to cut the margin to five points. The Blues scored eight unanswered points to get as close as 59-52 after Poe made 1 of 2 free throws at the 43-second mark. Three seconds later, Towry sank 1 of 2 free throws for Willamette, but Burdett swished a 3-point shot with 31 seconds to go, pulling Whitman within 60-55. Kochenderfer sealed the win for the Bearcats by hitting two free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

For the game, Willamette made 24 of 48 field goal attempts and hit 7 of 18 shots from behind the 3-point line (38.9%). The Bearcats registered their hottest shooting of the game in the first quarter, sinking 8 of 13 attempts (61.5%). Whitman was 22 of 61 from the field, including 7 of 14 on 3-pointers (50.0%). The Blues shot 64.3% in the third quarter (9 of 14), but hit just 21.4% of their shots in the second quarer and 23.5% in the fourth quarter. WU also struggled in the final quarter, making only 27.3% of its shots, but the Bearcats went 4 of 6 at the free throw line over the final 10 minutes, while Whitman was 1 of 2.

The Bearcats will conclude the regular season with a Northwest Conference game at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, on Saturday, Feb. 17. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. (PST).