NWAACC Game 2: vs Walla Walla
It was a tale of two halves at the Toyota Center Sunday afternoon. For twenty minutes the No. 8 Walla Walla Warriors gave the No. 3 Umpqua Community College women’s basketball team all they could handle.
UCC (23-6, 10-2 South) blistered the Warriors (19-8, 12-2 East) in the second-half from 3-point range, shooting 60 percent on 9/15 shooting, allowing them to roll into the third round and continue their quest for a NWAACC championship.
The Riverhawks took an early 6-0 lead before Walla Walla quickly climbed back into the game by forcing 13 first-half turnovers, resulting in a 33-33 tie at halftime.
“Coach Stricklin told us everyone in the tournament has one bad game. I think this was ours. We stepped up and did what we had to do,” sophomore Leilani Morris stated.
UCC started the second-half with a lay-in from guard Ashli Payne, followed by a trey from freshman Kayla Bice, giving the ‘Hawks a 38-33 advantage. With 15:48 remaining, point guard Romanalyn Inocencio and sophomore Kyndal Charleston combined for six 3-pointers in a four minute span, resulting in a pair of Warrior timeouts, and a 57-45 lead.
“My teammates told me to keep on shooting and I stepped up,” Inocencio said.
“Our outside shooting is important because it opens up the middle [of the key.] We really want to feed the middle [of the key] because no one can stop our posts,” Charleston stated.
Walla Walla slowly crept back into the ballgame cutting the Riverhawk advantage to 68-62 with more than four minutes to play. Charleston answered immediately hitting back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, giving UCC a 71-62 lead, and effectively ending a Warrior comeback.
“We didn’t really shoot the ball with a lot of confidence in the first-half. To start the second, Mana and Kayla hit some huge shots for us. All of the sudden it loosened up their defense and we were able to get the ball inside,” coach Stricklin commented.
All five Riverhawk starters scored in double figures. Charleston paced the ‘Hawks with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. Payne added her second double-double of the tournament with 11 points, and 10 boards, while sophomore Asia Smith contributed eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Inocencio added 11 points six dimes, and five steals, while Bice chipped in 13.