Women’s basketball comes up short in Washington trip but remains focused

Adam Myren, Staff Writer

The Linfield women’s basketball team began Northwest Conference play this weekend with a long, cold drive up to Washington to face Whitman College and Whitworth University.

The team is well on their way to a transformative start for first-year head coach Casey Bunn, coming off of a 4-0 road-trip down in California. However, alongside the good news in the win column came bad news in injury regarding one of our Wildcats.

Amantha Hood suffered a knee injury in the third game of the road trip, facing foes Pomona-Pitzer. The Wildcats missed Hood’s sizable addition to both the scoring and rebounding columns in their games against the Washington schools, suffering two losses.

There were bright spots from the Wildcats’ going forward, final score aside. With nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Cats were trailing the undefeated Missionaries by one point.

With a mirage of long-range shots and turnovers however, Linfield gave Whitman its opening NWC win for the 2015-2016 season.

With an average of 10 points from Hood on the bench, the Wildcats welcomed scoring contributions from sisters Riley and Paige Graham, who piled on a combined 28 points with lights out shooting from beyond the arc from Paige, knocking down all 5 three point attempts.

Jessica McMillan also tagged on seven points and nine rebounds before fouling out.

Dani Krier entered the game off the bench to offer 11 points to the Wildcats final score of 62, but it wasn’t enough to match 10 three pointers on 67 percent shooting of the Missionaries, leading to a final score of 78.

Bouncing back, the ’Cats came ready for another worthy opponent in the Whitworth Pirates who have already started off their NWC play with a win over Lewis and Clark.

It was another close battle determined in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats.

Unfortunately the contest from beyond the arc determined the winner again. While Linfield only sank 3 three-pointers, Whitworth was able to shoot an impressive 8-19 from beyond.

Positive outlook for the Wildcats comes from their dominance on the glass, which has been a recurring theme this season.

They outrebounded the Pirates 42-34. Saturday’s game warranted double digit appearances from the other set of Wildcat sisters, Jessica and Audrey McMillan.

Jessica led the Wildcats with 18 points and nine rebounds, one shy of a double-double while younger sister Audrey added 10 points and seven rebounds on 4-9 shooting.

More scoring help came from Hannah Depew and Quincey Gibson who added 11 and eight respectively. However, the absence of long-range shooting and a troublesome 19 turnovers were too much to overcome the Pirates.

Coming away, the Wildcats still find themselves on the positive side of the win-loss column with their impressive non-conference play.

Despite a tough start in NWC play, Senior Jessica McMillan says, “I’m really proud of how far we’ve come from when we were here last year. They blew us out both games and we really struggled. With it being this early in the season, it shows how much further we can grow and improve.”

With new scorers making up for lost points and starter minutes being spread throughout the team, the Wildcats have fared well in the recent adversity.

The teams maintained poise and offered competitive games to both Whitman and Whitworth, something that the program can build on for their next opponent, Multnomah University—a non-conference game.

Head Coach Casey Bunn said regarding the road-trip, “I am really proud of our team for battling this weekend. Each game we continue to grow as a unit. Whitman and Whitworth are both great programs and although we fell short, I am pleased with our team’s work ethic and determination to get better each day.”

With that positive outlook and the determination from both coaching staff and players, Linfield women’s basketball has the recipe for a successful year in the NWC.