LONGVIEW — The Peninsula College women came within two-tenths of a second in overtime of beating Umpqua on Wednesday at the Lower Columbia Holiday Classic tournament.
The Riverhawks won with a pair of free throws with :0.2 left in overtime to win 72-71.
The Pirates made a number of clutch plays down the stretch and appeared they were going to survive with a 71-70 win, but Umpqua was able to draw a foul on a shot right at the buzzer. The play went to a long video review to make sure the foul was committed with time still left on the clock.
Peninsula had a 12-point lead with 4 minutes left in the third quarter at 50-38, but Umpqua, perennially one of the top teams in the NWAC, rallied with a 14-2 run to end the third.
The teams traded leads throughout the fourth quarter. With the score 61-59 for Umpqua, Peninsula’s Aspen Fraser hit a shot with 43 seconds left to tie it at 61-61. Her teammate Carliese O’Brien then stole the ball with 1.8 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Umpqua was able to get ahead 70-67 in the final minute. O’Brien hit a shot with 58 seconds left to draw the Pirates to within 70-69. After Fraser played tough defense on a Riverhawks’ layup attempt, the Pirates’ Alecsis Smith got the ball on the rebound to give Peninsula one last possession. O’Brien and Smith executed a perfect pick-and-roll on the offensive end with O’Brien hitting Smith with a pass for a layup with 18 seconds left to give Peninsula a 71-70 lead.
Peninsula (8-4) takes a week off and then begins North Region play on Jan. 7 at Shoreline (0-12). The women have an incredible 40-game winning streak in the North Region.
Umpqua 72, PC 71
PC 17 18 17 9 10 — 71
Ump. 15 10 27 9 11 — 72
Peninsula (72) — Smith 17, O’Brien 13, Fraser 12, Garcia 10, Moss 9, Brown 7, Myers 2, Patrick 1.
Walla Walla 69, Peninsula 55
LONGVIEW — The Peninsula College women got down big in the first half against defending NWAC champion Walla Walla on Monday and couldn’t quite climb out of the hole, falling 69-55.
The loss snapped the Pirates’ eight-game winning streak.
Walla Walla got up 35-22 in the first half and increased its lead to 55-37 at the end of the third. The Pirates rallied a bit in the fourth, getting to within 13 points halfway through the fourth quarter at 61-48, but the Warriors hit a pair of buckets to stretch the lead back up to 17 and halt Peninsula’s momentum.
Smith led the team with 14 points, while O’Brien scored 11 with eight rebounds. Kimberlee Brown had 10 points and Fraser eight.
Walla Walla beat Peninsula earlier this season 59-44.
Walla Walla 69, Peninsula 55
WW 18 17 20 14 — 69
PC 11 11 15 18 — 55
Peninsula (55) — Smith 14, O’Brien 11, Brown 10, Fraser 8, Moss 6, Patrick 2, Garcia 2, Myers 2.
