PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College women’s basketball coach Alison Crumb was left wanting after an 81-59 Northwest Athletic Conference North Region victory over Olympic.
She wants more, namely more offensive production, from her talented band of athletes.
Crumb didn’t get that in the first half Wednesday, when the Pirates connected on 11 of 39 shots (28 percent) and held a 33-29 lead against the Rangers.
“I was not impressed with our mentality in the first half. I was upset about it,” Crumb said.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t working hard, but this is too good of a basketball team to go out there and play afraid of making mistakes.
“We missed about 10 layups, and this is not a team that misses layups.
“We’ve been overthinking everything and I’m tired of it.”
Crumb said the play of Daijhan Cooks kept Peninsula in the game in the opening half.
“I thought Daijhan, from start to finish, ran the floor hard and played with confidence,” Crumb said.
“She was the only player in the first half to hit more than 40 percent from the floor. She saved us in the first half.”
Cooks scored eight of her 12 points in the first two quarters.
A different Peninsula team emerged in the second half.
Peninsula guard Imani Smith said Crumb’s displeasure in the locker room at intermission helped refocus the team.
“Your halftime speech that was what it was,” Smith said.
“We just started to play. We were able to relax and just play. Cierra [Moss] hitting those 3s back-to-back, and the back-to-back and-one plays from Cierra and Cherish [Moss], those got us going.”
The Pirates piled on the pressure in the backcourt to force steals, and stepped it up offensively during a 21-6 run over the first four minutes of the third quarter to take a 54-35 lead.
Crumb said her halftime speech was simple.
“I told them I want that team back from the start of the season that was scoring 80 to 85 points a game, and that part of getting back there is improving the mentality we show offensively,” Crumb said.
“We have to play pissed off. We have to play with an attitude and an edge.”
Cierra Moss scored nine of her 15 points during that run and Cherish Moss had three of her game-high 18 points.
“Cierra coming out to start the second half was rad,” Crumb said.
“I thought Cherish played well, those two have been really strong for us.”
She liked how the team responded in the pivotal third quarter.
“We scored 33 points in the first half and 29 in the third quarter,” Crumb said.
“We can score the basketball. We have a lot of people that can score the ball, and we just have to do that.”
The Pirates (10-1, 19-5) host Bellevue (10-1, 20-4) in a battle for first place in the North Region at 4 p.m. Saturday. It is the last regular-season home game for Peninsula’s sophomores.
Crumb said other teams should watch out if her team can play with the same offensive intensity it had in the third quarter against Olympic.
“There’s not a team in this league, even Bellevue, that can matchup with us offensively,” Crumb said.
“People should worry about us a little more than they are.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
