WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Walla Walla Women’s Basketball team concludes its 2024-25 season with a road trip to Oregon. The Wolves will travel to Eugene, Ore. for a noon game on Friday against Bushnell. The season finale will be in Salem, Ore. at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Corban.

Bushnell Beacons (10-16, 9-11)

The Beacons are currently in the No. 6 seed position in the Cascade Conference and have locked in a place in the postseason tournament. Bushnell is one game ahead of both Corban and Evergreen State and can finish the regular season in any of the final three playoff seedings when the regular season concludes this weekend.

Bushnell is eighth in the CCC in scoring margin (-7.4). The Beacons have struggled to shoot the ball this season with a conference-worst 62.2% free throw percentage and 27.3% 3-point percentage. Bushnell is ninth in the CCC with 58.5 points per game aided by the fact that the team brings in 12.5 offensive rebounds a contest and have a slight rebounding margin advantage over its opponents.

Libby Mathis has had a strong season with 13.7 points and 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Mathis is second in the CCC in rebounding behind Chariah Daniels. Ayden Krupke adds 11.8 points per game and Liv Tjoelker leads the team with 1.8 assists per game.

Back in January it was Bushnell with a 63-52 victory over the Wolves. Ellis Mastel had 16 points and 10 boards and Mathis also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylo Bello led WWU with 16 points with four 3s. Daniels had 13 points and Natalee Trevino added 12 points.

Walla Walla is 2-18 all-time against Bushnell and has last two meetings. Both wins came at home with the last one coming on Dec. 15, 2023 when the Wolves won 73-57.

Corban Warriors (10-16, 8-12)

The Warriors need one win this weekend or a loss from Northwest to secure a spot in the CCC postseason tournament. Corban is on a five-game losing streak that includes a loss to the Eagles last weekend. The Warriors can still move up to as high as the No. 6 seed in the tournament if things fall correctly for them.

Corban averages 66.5 points per game, fifth best in the CCC. The Warriors are third-best in the conference with a 33.1% 3-point percentage and fifth-best in field goal percentage at 40.8%. Corban is a strong rebounding team with 38.3 boards per game and a +2.0 rebounding margin. One issue for the Warriors is ball control as they have the second-most turnovers in the CCC at 18.2 per game.

Lizzy Bennett leads Corban with 9.8 points per game. Madison Hodnett is the team leader in rebounds at 6.9 RPG. Jenna Albrecht leads the team with 2.7 assists per game.

Corban outscored Walla Walla 24-12 in the first quarter and went on to win 77-49 in the first meeting this year. Madison Hodnett had 16 points and nine boards for the Warriors. Tayla Yost had 11 points and Albrecht and Sevennah Van De Riet had 10 points each. Bello led the Wolves with 15 points, Trevino had 11 points and Daniels finished with 10 rebounds.

Walla Walla is 2-15 all-time against the Warriors, but the last time the Wolves played in Salem, Ore. they came out with a victory. WWU won on Feb. 9, 2024 by a score of 69-60 with a monster fourth quarter. Walla Walla and Corban have split the season series each of the last two seasons.

Wolves Milestone Watch

Chariah Daniels

• 68 minutes away from 1,000 minutes played this season (Would be third to reach that milestone)
• 12 steals away from passing her own single-season record of 77 steals
• 22 rebounds away from 800 all-time (Would be the first to reach that milestone)
• 7 steals away from 200 all-time (Would be the first to reach that milestone)

Jordan Green-Wallace

• 4 blocks from passing Nicke Parks for fifth all-time

Natalee Trevino

• 2 points away from 500 all-time (Would be the ninth to reach that milestone)

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Walla Walla Men’s Basketball team travels to Oregon to wrap up the 2024-25 season. The Wolves will face Bushnell in Eugene, Ore. at 2 p.m. on Friday. The final game of the season will be against Corban in Salem, Ore. at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Bushnell Beacons (12-14, 8-12)

The Beacons are on the cusp of making their third-consecutive CCC tournament. Bushnell needs to win one of its two games this weekend or get a loss from Warner Pacific to lock in the final playoff spot. The Beacons can not improve higher than the No. 8 seed where they would face one of the best teams in the NAIA, College of Idaho. Bushnell enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak.

Bushnell averages 80.4 points per game and has a +1.4 scoring margin on the season. The Beacons average 38.9 rebounds per game and have forced 303 turnovers. Cory Johnson is fourth in the CCC with 16.7 points per game and sixth in the conference with 7.8 rebounds a game. Squeaky Johnson has made 59 3-pointers, second-most in the CCC and leads the team with 64 assists.

Walla Walla jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first eight minutes of the first meeting with Bushnell, but the Beacons stormed back for an 88-80 win at Windemuth Court on Jan. 11. Squeaky Johnson had 25 points with six 3s. Kaleb Burnett and Luke Smith had 16 points each and Cory Johnson finished with 14 points. Almonds Sebirokwa led the Wolves with 23 points and Soren Dalan had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wolves are 1-15 against Bushnell and have lost the last five meetings. The lone win was in Eugene, Ore. on Feb. 12, 2022 where Walla Walla won 78-72. Andrew Vaughan had seven points as a freshman in the game.

Corban Warriors (14-12, 12-8)

The Warriors have secured a spot in the Cascade Conference tournament, but have a chance to host a first-round game. Corban is tied with Multnomah for the No. 5 seed and both teams are half a game behind Southern Oregon who faces its travel-partner Oregon Tech on Tuesday. The Warriors can finish the regular season as high as the No. 4 seed, but as low as the No. 7 seed. Corban snapped a five-game losing streak this past weekend with a pair of victories against Northwest and Evergreen State.

Corban plays strong defense and has allowed only 72.5 points per game. The Warriors average 7.2 steals and 2.6 blocks a game and have a +2.58 turnover margin. Spivey Word leads the team with 14.3 PPG and Luc Krystkowiak adds 12.2 points per game. Krystkowiak also brings in six boards a game. 

The Warriors won the first meeting 83-61. Word had 18 points and Nikola Milosevic added 15 points in the victory. Soren Dalan had 19 points and Thomas Mestrov added 10 for the Wolves.

Walla Walla is 2-13 all-time against Corban. The Warriors have won the last eight meetings and the Wolves have been unable to score more than 66 points in any of the games during that streak. Walla Walla won back-to-back meetings at home against Corban back in 2017 and 2019.

Wolves Milestone Watch

Andrew Vaughan 

• 8 field goals away from 150 this season (Would be the sixth to reach that milestone)
• 11 points away from 400 this season (Would be the sixth to reach that milestone)
• 5 steals away from passing Artur Borges Paraizo (88) for most all-time

Soren Dalan

• 9 field goals away from 150 this season (Would be the sixth to reach that milestone)
• 18 rebounds away from passing KiAndre Gaddy’s 2021-22 season (222) for second most all-time

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Wolves will travel to Beaverton, Ore. on Feb. 22 and 23 for the PIVA Tournament. Walla Walla has also added a home event the first weekend of March. Details have not been finalized, but the current plan is for volleyball action from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 2 with the possibility of playing at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 1.