Daniel Sokolov

WWR- Wolves Set to Battle Vikings

12/21/2016 10:47:00 PM

Paul Starkebaum, Sports Information Director

College Place, Wash. –

The Wolves have one more game before taking a short break for the holidays
Men's basketball travels to Portland, Ore. to play Portland State University
CCC Men's basketball currently has four nationally ranked teams
CCC Women's basketball currently has two national ranked teams and two teams receiving votes

Men's Basketball

Friday, December 16, @ Portland State University 5:05pm

Walla Walla (1-10, 0-4) will be facing a major challenge this week as the head to Portland, Ore. to take on NCAA division I Portland State University (6-4) Thursday night. The Vikings are coming off a 77-75 victory Tuesday night over cross town rival University of Portland. The Vikings are a high octane offense, they share the ball well, and they will be looking to get up and down the court against the Wolves.
Portland State University- By the Numbers (all rankings are based on NCAA Div. I)

Braxton Tucker leads PSU in scoring, with 16.8 points per game and rebound with 5.8 per game
Calaen Robinson leads PSU in made three-point field goals, with 24, and assists with 37
As a team the Vikings average 36.3% from the three-point line, and they have six players averaging double figures in scoring
Portland St. rankings 26^th nationally in assist to turnover ratio, posting a 1.44 ratio
They rank 15^th nationally in fewest turnovers, with only 118
They shoot 50% on field goals, ranking 15^th nationally
They average 88.2 points per game, which ranks 11^th nationally
The have a +3.7 turnover margin, which ranks 35^th nationally
The Wolves and Vikings have one common opponent in New Hope Christian. The Vikings beat the Deacons 110—79 on December 13. The Wolves lost to New Hope 99-100 and 87-94
This will be the third all-time match-up between WWU and PSU. The Wolves are 0-2, with the last match-up being December 22 2014. The Wolves lost Portland State 52-94 in that game

The Wolves have 11 players averaging more than 10 minutes per game right now. Expect them to use their depth Thursday night against the Vikings. In recent games the Wolves have had a variety of different players make big contributions. Freshman post Stuart Tonack, has stepped up his offensive productivity in the paint, and last game Spencer Woodworth had a season high of 8 points. The Wolves will look to take advantage of their diverse lineup.

Cascade Conference Basketball

Women's Basketball

Across the conference, it is shaping up to be a strong year for women's basketball in the CCC. Southern Oregon University (11-1, 4-0), sits on top of the conference and has moved all the way up to #4 in the national rankings. The Raiders lead the conference in scoring at 82.6 points per game and scoring margin at +21. SOU's Autumn Durand leads the conference in scoring at 19.1 ppg and is second in the conference in rebounding with 9.8 rpg. The Wolves will face off against the Raiders on January 8^th for the first of their two match-ups. #19 Eastern Oregon University (11-2, 4-0) sits in second place in the conference, they give up a stingy 56.3 ppg on defense and lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 35.7%. Gabi Fenumiai leads EOU in scoring with 13.5 ppg, she is leading the conference in field goal percentage at 64.2%. EOU will travel to SOU on January 14^th for their first match-up of the season.

Men's Basketball

On the men's side the talent is looking very deep so far, with four teams nationally ranked and there is only one team left without a conference loss. #16 Eastern Oregon University (12-2, 4-0) is sitting atop of the conference and is the only team left who has not lost a conference game. This week's player of the week, Bryan McGriff, leads EOU in scoring with 21.5 ppg and rebounding with 9.7 rpg, both of which are good enough for second best in the conference. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Wolves were tied with EOU going into halftime, before a big second half run expanded the lead for the Mountaineers to the win. Eastern Oregon who will take on #7 Northwest Christian University on January 14^th for a match-up between the two highest ranked teams in the CCC. The second-place team in the CCC is #13 Northwest University (12-1, 4-1), who's only loss this season came at the hands of Oregon Tech in a 98-96 double overtime thriller last week. In 10 days, NU will face off against #24 College of Idaho in Kirkland. The Yotes started off the season ranked 7^th in the country, and after losing a couple of early season games, they are looking strong. Expect the league to be tight all season, with teams moving up and down in the rankings until the very end of conference play.

Next week we will preview the Wolves women's and men's match-ups with Northwest Christian University and Corban University.

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