Saipan son helps WWU win first-ever NCAA II basketball title

Richard Woodworth, son of Saipan’s Toni Terlaje, helped lead Western Washington University to the school’s very first NCAA Division II basketball championship over Montevallo University’s Falcons, 72-65, in Saturday’s championship game held at the Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights, KY.

Woodworth is a sophomore point guard for the WWU Vikings, who won the title with tough defense and a well-balanced scoring attack.

Woodworth scored 10 points to complement four other teammates in double figures on the big stage, which was televised nationally on CBS. He also led the team with nine rebounds and four assists.

It was a very close match, but the Vikings held the Falcons scoreless in the last five minutes of the first half for a slim, 30-26, lead at intermission.

Twelve of the game’s 16 lead changes came in the opening half.

Then WWU worked out a double-digit lead in the second half and fought off a late rally by the Falcons from the free throw line.

The Falcons out-rebounded the Vikings in the match, but the latter contained Montevallo to a dismal 37.5 field goal percentage.

This year’s run marked WWU’s second appearance as an Elite 8 squad and its title marked the state’s first basketball championship on any level since 1976 (Puget Sound). WWU reached the semifinals back in 2001.

WWU snapped a 10-game winning streak by Montevallo to finish its season with a school record 31 wins and five losses.

The Vikings defeated seven Top 25-ranked division II squads this season.

Twenty-year-old Richard Woodworth hails from Bellevue, Washington. He stands 6’3” and weighs 185 lbs

Before starting collegiate career he was twice selected as the team captain for Newport High School where he earned most valuable player honors three times.

He was also selected as a First-team All-KingCo 4A league choice player during his senior season and appeared in the Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Senior All-State Game and earned a spot on the state of Washington’s Second-team all-league squad that advanced to the district playoffs in his junior year.

Woodworth made All-League’s first team as a sophomore as well and finished his high school career as a three letter athlete in both basketball and track and field. He cleared a 6’6” high jump for a fifth place finish in the Class 3A state championship as a junior.

Woodworth played 26 games as a freshman at WWU before being red-shirted last year after having wrist surgery.

Notably, Richard’s father, Donald, is a basketball Hall of Famer from Whitman College and his sister, Lola, was a former swimmer at North Carolina State University. He plans to major in business management.