Carpenter is Chosen First Team All-NWC; Kitchin is Selected for Second Team

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University guard Amanda Carpenter (Grad., Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS) has been named First Team All-Northwest Conference for the 2021-22 women's basketball season in voting by the NWC head coaches. Willamette forward Ava Kitchin (So., F, Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) was chosen Second Team All-NWC.

A total of 20 players were selected for the 2021-22 All-NWC Women's Basketball Team. Six players were chosen for the First Team, with five players on the Second Team, and nine players receiving Honorable Mention.

Camy Aguinaldo, a senior guard from Pacific University, was named NWC Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Kennedy Brown, a guard for the University of Puget Sound, was honored as the NWC Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year. Head Coach Michelle Ferenz of Whitman College was voted as the NWC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year.

Willamette finished the season with a 12-13 overall record, including a 7-9 mark (5th place) in the Northwest Conference. The Bearcats limited opponents to 39.0% shooting and just 59.0 points per game. Willamette led the NWC in 3-point shooting defense by holding opposing teams to 24.9% from behind the arc.

First Team All-Northwest Conference

Amanda Carpenter (Grad., G) was selected First Team All-NWC for the first time. This season, she averaged 11.1 points per game and grabbed 5.2 rebounds per contest. She led the Bearcats in scoring and 3-pointers made (51), and ranked second on the team in rebounding. She tied for third in the NWC in 3-pointers made per game (2.0), was seventh in 3-point percentage, and finished 12th in scoring and steals (1.3 per game).

During the year, Carpenter scored in double figures 14 times. She earned a career-high 31 points in Willamette's 70-50 win over Linfield University on Jan. 21 as part of Play for ABTA night. Carpenter was instrumental in setting up the fund-raising event as a memorial to her mother, Kim Veenhuis, who died this past August following a battle against brain cancer. Play for ABTA night brought in more than $11,000 for the American Brain Tumor Association.

Carpenter completed her Willamette career with 102 games played and 75 starts. She provided the Bearcats with 787 points, 320 rebounds, 158 assists, and 92 steals during her career. She made 124 three-point baskets to rank ninth all-time at Willamette. She attempted 385 three-pointers to place seventh on WU's all-time list. She was a first-year player in 2017-18, when the Bearcats went 17-10 overall, achieved a 12-4 record in the NWC, and reached the NWC Tournament championship game.

Second Team All-Northwest Conference

Ava Kitchin (So., F) was named Second Team All-NWC for the first time. She played in 22 games with 21 starts this year. She averaged 9.8 points per contest. Kitchin led Willamette and tied for eighth in the NWC with 6.0 rebounds per game. In addition, she averaged 1.1 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. She blocked 12 shots to tie for 11th in the NWC with 0.5 blocks per game and shot 47.1% from the field to placed 13th in the NWC. 

Kitchin recorded a career-high 21 points against Whitworth University on Feb. 8, 2020. She grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds versus Linfield on Jan. 21, 2022. She contributed double-digit scoring in 12 games this year, while earning seven or more rebounds 10 times.

In two seasons at Willamette, Kitchin has scored 415 points and hauled down 248 rebounds. She has registered 42 assists, 39 steals, and 34 blocked shots. She has shot 47.0% on field goals during her career.