EVERETT — Top-ranked Umpqua was simply too tall, too talented and too much for the Peninsula Pirates.
Dajanay Powell and Jordan Stotler combined for 55 points and 31 rebounds and Umpqua took control early and rolled to an 85-58 victory over the Pirates in the Elite Eight of the women’s NWAC Championship Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Peninsula saw its hopes of advancing to next weekend’s Final Four evaporate over a 10-minute span of the first and second quarters when they were outscored 37-9 as Umpqua opened a 24-point lead from which the Pirates never recovered.
“They got a jump on us in the first quarter,” said Peninsula coach Alison Crumb. “We hung with them in the first couple minutes and then they took a 21-2 run and we just looked shell-shocked.”
Peninsula had no answer for Umpqua’s inside tandem of Stotler and Powell.
Stotler, a 6-4 freshman who was the South Region MVP, freshman of the year and defensive player of the year, had 20 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks — and added four of Umpqua’s five 3-pointers. Powell, a 6-3 freshman forward and first team all-region pick, had 35 points on 14-of-25 shooting, and 14 rebounds.
Umpqua (29-2), which lost starting guard Ashley Backen to a knee injury in in mid-February, advances to the semifinals on Saturday, against the winner of Bellevue and Spokane, who played late Sunday.
“After that first quarter, and they kind of got their rear ends chewed a little bit and just woken up, they battled,” Crumb said. “They’re a good team. They’ve got several Division I players on their team. Probably even if you take away that first quarter, we still wouldn’t have won the game, but it was more of a competition than it looked.”
Taisha Thomas had 17 points and Jenise McKnight 14 for the Pirates (19-9).
Emblematic of the Pirates’ entire afternoon, their best moment didn’t count when Sephora Yayouss’ desperation, three-quarter court heave at the end of the third quarter swished through, but was ruled after the buzzer.
The Pirates misfired repeatedly from the perimeter in the decisive opening half, going 0 for 15 from three-point range. Thomas was 5 for 7 in the first half, but the rest of the Pirates were a combined 4 for 36.
“We were afraid of the interior. We were settling for jump shots, which is exactly what told them not to do, but you can’t go out and play the game for them. They’ve got to learn on their own,” Crumb said.
Peninsula shot slightly better in the second half, going 12 for 40, but overall was 21 of 83 for just 25 percent, including 2 of 31 from beyond the arc.
“We took 31 threes. That’s what Umpqua wants you to do,” she said. “Wants you to get intimidated, shoot jumpers and run the floor. Deep shots are deep rebounds and we had a hard time stopping their transition. Unfortunately, we didn’t play a great game. But, what I am proud about is the second half, I felt like we didn’t quit and we could have.”
The Pirates jumped out to an early 6-2 lead on consecutive baskets by Thomas, but Peninsula managed just one field goal over the final 6:39 of the period as Umpqua went on a 21-2 run for a 23-8 lead after one quarter.
The lead ballooned to 39-15 midway through the second quarter before McKnight shot 6-for-6 on free throws during an eight-point run that cut the lead to 39-23.
Powell scored six points as Umpqua closed the quarter with a 10-4 run to take a 49-27 lead at the break.
Umpqua, which also got 17 points and 12 rebounds from freshman forward Bria Thames, maintained its comfortable advantage in the second half, taking a 74-50 lead into the final period.
Crumb was proud of the effort and character of her team.
“You’re not going to be defined by your losses all the time. You’re going to be defined by who you are as a person. You have to play with character,” Crumb said. “Yeah, we got our rear ends kicked in the first half, but what are you going to do about it? Are we going to sit down and fold and feel sorry for ourselves? No, that’s not who we are, that’s not who these kids are.”
“They played with a lot of character,” she said. “They showed their real character in the second half and I’m proud of them.”
Umpqua 85, Peninsula 58
Peninsula 8 19 23 8 — 58
Umpqua 23 26 25 11 — 85
Peninsula (58) — Thomas 17, McKnight 14, Smith 9, Yayouss 8, Butler 3, Rodisha 2, Alvarez 2, Dugan 2, Rodriguez 1.
Umpqua (85) — Powell 35, Stotler 20, Thames 17, Bilbrew 6, Anderson 4, Luaders 3.
Rick Ross/for Peninsula Daily News Peninsula’s Yamelei Rodriguez drives to the basket against Umpqua defenders in Peninsula’s second-round NWAC Tournament game in Everett on Sunday.
