PASCO — For the second straight game, the Peninsula College women relied on their size and tenacious rebounding to dominate the boards and the score in a 79-55 victory over South Puget Sound in the NWAC Elite Eight on Thursday.
The game possibly sets up a rematch against powerful Lane in the Final Four semifinals a week from Saturday.
The result of the Lane-Green River quarterfinal was after press deadline.
While an upset could always happen, No. 1-ranked Lane is 29-0 and considered a heavy favorite over 17-10 Green River.
It will be the fifth trip to the Final Four since 2016 for the Pirates women.
Peninsula and Lane met early in the season with Lane winning 81-76 in overtime. It was the only game all year in which a team forced Lane to overtime. If it does come down to this battle of titans, the two teams will bring a combined record of 54-2 into that game.
Almost identical to the Chemeketa game in the Sweet 16, Peninsula got off to a fast start and simply crushed the Clippers on the boards. The Pirates got up 38-11 midway through the second quarter and cruised from that point on, at one point building the lead up to 67-31. Against Chemeketa, Peninsula led 36-5 at the halftime break.
Against the Clippers, Peninsula controlled the boards 58-37 and the offensive boards 26-12. Against Chemeketa, those numbers were 55-27 and 22-7.
And the Pirates had balance with five players scoring at least eight points and four players with at least seven rebounds.
Alecsis Smith led the way off the bench, scoring 16 to go with 12 rebounds, while Alexa Mackey had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Ciera Tugade Agasiva had 12 points, while Neah Bay’s Ryana Moss hit three 3-pointers to score nine.
Makena Patrick had nine points and seven rebounds, while Sequim’s Jelissa Julmist had eight points and seven rebounds.
Peninsula 79, South Puget Sound 55
SPS 9 12 10 24 — 55
PC 23 23 17 16 — 79
South Puget Sound (55) — Gumke 14, Tran 13, Tanner 10, Teeple 10, Mastro 5, Esquivel 3.
Peninsula (79) — Smith 16, Mackey 14, Agasiva 12, Moss 9, Patrick 9, Julmist 8, O’Brien 4, Wood 4, Moananu 3.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
