KENNEWICK — The Peninsula College women’s basketball team survived a slow start and foul trouble to vanquish Highline 69-55 and push itself to the NWAC tournament semifinals.
The Pirates struggled though foul trouble and a close first half before pulling away in the final eight minutes and breaking off a 22-7 run Sunday at the Toyota Center.
“I’m proud of the girls for hanging in games and giving themselves an opportunity to win,” Peninsula coach Alison Crumb said.
“We can sit on this one a little bit. That was a tough win to get into the semifinals.”
Multiple Pirates found themselves in foul trouble early on while trying to quiet Highline’s fast-paced offense.
“We had people in foul trouble, people frustrated and we could have easily folded and given that game away,” Crumb said.
The Pirates also couldn’t find a rhythm shooting, only connecting on 33 percent of their shots, including only hitting 1 for 6 from 3-point range in the first half.
Despite struggling to fend off Highline’s fast-break offense, the Pirates went into the locker room holding a 32-28 lead.
“Highline’s super-athletic. They’re talented at every position and they’re not lacking in confidence. They’re just going to go at you balls to the wall the whole time,” Crumb said.
Highline started the second half off with a 3-pointer from Ionna Price and a turnaround jumper by Brittany Barrington as the Thunderbirds took the lead by one point with less than a minute expired.
“We’re not used to that in our league. Back to back games we’ve had to weather storms, get our composure and just hang in there, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Crumb said.
Peninsula’s Madison Pilster fired back with a basket of her own, and the two teams traded baskets for the next 10 minutes, with neither wanting to take the game.
With 8:30 left in regulation, Allie Weathersby hit a 3-pointer to help the Thunderbirds take a 47-48 lead.
That would be the last lead of the night for Highline, as the Pirates ripped off a 22-7 run in the remaining eight minutes to take the game over and put it out of reach.
“When the timing’s right, they seize it and they finish,” Crumb said.
“That’s just toughness to play through that kind of adversity.”
Cierra Moss and Imani Smith hit back-to-back 3s during that stretch, while Smith connected on three free-throws and a pull-up jumper.
Zhara Laster was especially effective in the last two minutes, grabbing a rebound on a missed free throw, getting fouled in the process and then making both free throws.
On the ensuing play, with 1:36 left and Highline down by 10, the Thunderbirds lost the ball in transition. Laster took the inbounds pass and drilled a 3.
The next play, Laster snatched a defensive rebound that set up a Fenumiai shot from inside to seal the deal.
“We hung around, hung around, made a few plays, and then went on that 22-7 run to finish the half. That’s just good basketball,” Crumb said.
“We’ve shown that we can be tough.”
The fourth-ranked Pirate women face off against top-ranked Umpqua at 8 p.m. tonight at the Toyota Center.
“Umpqua is tough. They’re probably the most talented team here. They’re super tall and a great rebounding team,” Crumb said.
“We severely have our hands full but we’re going to go at them with a lot of confidence and a lot of heart.
“We’ll see if we can hang in the game long enough to make more plays than them. That’s going to be our strategy.”
Peninsula 69, Highline 55
Highline 28 27— 55
Peninsula 32 37— 69
Individual scoring
Highline (55)
Rippingham 2, Evans 2, Barrington 8, Holmes 14, Weathersby 5, Miller 16, Price 6, Collins 2, Remitz, Walker, Laney, MyHand.
Peninsula (69)
Laster 10, Ci. Moss 6, Pilster 13, Staveland 2, Fenumiai 15, Schmillen 3, Smith 20, Hutchins, Nemelka, Ch. Moss, Gonzales.
