
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's basketball game at Lewis & Clark College, originally scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19, has been moved to Monday, Jan. 22 due to weather conditions in Portland. The Willamette men's basketball game against the Pioneers has also been moved to Monday. The women's game is set to get underway at 6 p.m. PST with the men's game to follow at 8 p.m.
Willamette is tied for first place in the NWC women's basketball standings with a 5-1 conference record. Pacific University also is tied for first place at 5-1. Puget Sound and Whitman, both 4-2 in the NWC, are tied for third place. L&C is 1-5 in the NWC, while GFU is 2-5.
The Bearcats will play one game before taking on L&C on Monday. Willamette will host George Fox University on Saturday, Jan. 20 with the women's game at 4 p.m. PST and the men's game at 6 p.m.
Leading scorers for Willamette are Elyse Waldal (Jr., F, Snohomish, WA/Glacier Peak HS/Linfield University), Kaitlin Imai (So., G, Santa Cruz, CA/Scotts Valley HS), and Carolyn Ho (Sr., G, Parker, CO/Ponderosa HS). Waldal is at the top of the offensive chart and sixth in the NWC with 12.9 points per game. She also leads the Bearcats with 30 three-point baskets.
Imai is averaging 10.4 points per game, while Ho is averaging 10.1 points per contest. Ho has connected on 90.6% of her free throws (29 of 32) to lead the NWC. Ava Kitchin (Sr., P, Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) ranks first on the roster with 6.3 rebounds per game. Ho is averaging 5.3 rebounds per contest.
Willamette has won three of its last four games. For the season, the Bearcats are 8-7 and have averaged 7.1 three-point baskets per contest. Wells has scored a team-high 27 three-pointers.
The Bruins of GFU are led on offense by Alyssa Wells with 11.2 points per game. Eryn Yoshitake has averaged 10.7 points. Ella Roberts is third on the roster with 9.4 points per contest. Jenna Lacey has earned 5.4 rebounds per game.
Lewis & Clark, currently 3-1 overall, is paced by Jamison Richards with 10.8 points per game. Charlotte Carroll has contributed 9.2 points per contest and Karli Mukai has scored 9.1 points per game. Piper Curry follows closely with 9.0 points per game. Richards leads the Pioneers with 23 three-point baskets. Lauryn Frederickson has provided L&C with a team-high 8.6 boards per game.