| Meghan White
and her Missionaries teammates fell in the conference semifinals,
but are now the last of three NWC playoff teams still
standing. Photo by Jeff Halsted, d3photography.com |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
Whitman’s hope of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history faded in the wake of a crushing one-point loss to Whitworth in a Northwest Conference tournament semifinal round loss two weeks ago.
Whitworth 55, Whitman 54 was more than just a final score. It represented the end of a dream as well. Or so it seemed.
But once the Missionaries learned they would receive an NCAA bid, they put the conference tournament setback behind them and moved on.
“Our conference is very tough and we know we didn’t play our best in that game, especially offensively,” said Whitman coach Michelle Ferenz, who has been at the helm of the program for 12 years. “Our opponent took advantage of that. But our mindset was that we were going to put the loss aside and move forward.”
Entering the first full week of March, the Missionaries are still moving forward. Not only did they make it to the NCAA Tournament, but they won their first two games.
First, it was a 61-37 dismantling of Cal Lutheran, which was making its second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Up next was a second-round showdown against NWC foe Lewis & Clark, the No. 13 team in the nation and the runner-up in the conference tournament.
The game was played in Portland on the home floor of the Pioneers, but that did little to faze Whitman (22-5), which had already won a regular-season meeting on the road there in January. The Missionaries prevailed with a 66-57 win and punched their ticket to the Sweet 16.
“We are very excited,” Ferenz said. “I thought we were very focused on both days and we played well in both games. Our conference prepared us for the NCAA Tournament. We did a good job of handling the situation with poise and we found a way to win two games against tough opponents.”
Interestingly enough, Whitman is the only team still standing from the three NWC teams that made it to the NCAA tournament. League champion Whitworth was beaten 72-65 by Emory in an opening-round game in Atlanta.
Whitman has had good teams in the past under Ferenz, who arrived on campus in 2001, including the 2003-04 campaign when she led her team to a share of the conference title and was named the NWC Coach of the Year.
But nailing down an NCAA bid always eluded the Missionaries until last week.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of success here, but it’s so hard to get to the NCAA tournament,” Ferenz said. “We are the first team sport in school history to get there and it is very exciting. We had a great crowd support us last week and it’s a big deal to represent our conference in the tournament.”
The reward for advancing into the third round is a trip to the East Coast. Whitman will take on Emory (24-3) on the campus of Williams College in Massachusetts Friday night. The winner plays either Ithaca or Williams on Saturday for the right to advance to the Final Four at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich., next weekend.
The returning players have actually made a trip out to Williams as Whitman played in a tournament out there two seasons ago. Ferenz is trying to make the return trip as easy as possible on the team, but no matter how you slice or dice it, it’s a long way from Walla Walla, Wash.
“It’s going to be a long day and we are doing our best to prepare for it,” Ferenz said. “Our returning players know what it’s like to make the trip and we want to make it as easy as possible on the players. It’s going to be tough, but we’re not complaining. We’re still playing basketball and that is exciting.”
Part of the reason Whitman is still playing basketball is because it features a team that doesn’t rely on one or two players to lead the way.
Junior forward Sarah Anderegg averages 13.5 points per outing and sophomore guard Heather Johns is clicking for 11.8 points per game.
Four other players average six or more points per outing, including junior guard Tiffani Traver, who is putting up 8.4 ppg and has knocked down 36 3-pointers for a Whitman team that averages 67 points per outing. Meghan White leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game and has averaged double figures in rebounds from Feb. 1 on.
“This team is very balanced and they do a great job of playing well together,” Ferenz said. “We know different players are going to step up each night and the players trust in each other to finish opportunities.”
The Missionaries have also been solid on defense allowing only 50.9 points per outing and forcing opponents to shoot 33.3 percent from the field. They force 16.1 turnovers per game as well.
“We put a lot of emphasis on defense and rebounding,” Ferenz said. “Our defense has kept us in a lot of games, and even when you have an off night on offense, you can always play hard on defense. Our team has bought into that since day one.”
When it comes to preparation for this weekend, Ferenz said her team won’t change. The Missionaries will rely on what got them to this point and are focused on being ready for the next challenge in front of them as they take aim at continuing their historic and memorable run through the tournament.
“At this point, teams aren’t going to make any big changes,” Ferenz said. “Every team playing is good and doing the little things right can make a big difference. It comes down to execution. We expect the game to be close and we’ll take our best shot and see what happens.”