PASCO — The Peninsula College women’s basketball team got off to a great start this weekend and likewise did a fantastic job all game containing Umpqua’s star player Brooklyn Fely, but a disastrous third quarter was the Pirates’ undoing in a 73-55 NWAC Elite Eight defeat.
The women finished their season 23-3 with a North Region championship and an appearance in the Elite Eight with a team that was nearly all freshman. The great news for the Pirates is that they only graduate three sophomores.
Fely came in to Saturday’s game having scored 52 points in her previous game against Yakima Valley. The Pirates did a good job keeping her in check, holding her to just 14 points, but they struggled mightily with their shooting, especially in the second half. Peninsula shot just 25 percent (20-for-80) in the game and 0-for-21 in the third quarter. All four of the Pirates’ third-quarter points came from the free-throw line.
“At this stage of the playoffs, you have to score,” said Peninsula coach Alison Crumb. She said as the scoring drought dragged on through the third quarter, “every shot for them became more stressful.”
Crumb said it was a sad way to end the season, especially for Peninsula’s three sophomores — Talia Marini, Jenilee Donovan and Sunny Pedebone.
“We were done [in the postseason] a little earlier than we would have liked,” she said. “But we can use this as motivation for next year.”
Peninsula got off to a great start, getting up 26-10 against the Riverhawks halfway through the second quarter. Umpqua rallied to cut Peninsula’s lead to 31-28 at the half.
The game was knotted at 35-35 with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Umpqua went on a huge 18-0 run over the next four minutes to take control of the game at 53-35.
Despite going completely cold from the field for the entire third quarter, the Pirates rallied a couple of times in the fourth, mostly behind Sequim’s Jelissa Julmist, who had her best game of the year. Julmist scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 6-for-7 from the floor to bring the Pirates back into the game at 54-46 with five minutes left.
Down just eight, Peninsula had the ball and had chances to cut the lead down to five or six points, but missed a couple of shots as Fely got the ball back for Umpqua with one of her 16 rebounds.
The Riverhawks were able to get the lead back up to 63-50. Ciera Tugade Agasiva hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 63-53 with 3:08 left in the game, but that was the Pirates’ last gasp as the Riverhawks hit eight straight free throws to open the lead to a safe 73-53 gap in the final minute.
“It was just a little too late. We just didn’t have enough time,” Crumb said.
Julmist led the Pirates with 17 points. Alexa Mackey had 13 points and eight rebounds, Agasiva 10 points and Shania Moananu had eight points and seven rebounds.
Umpqua, along with nearby Lane Community College, is one of the historic powerhouses in the NWAC in women’s basketball. The Riverhawks won NWAC titles in 1997 and 2000 and played in the championship game in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
NOTE: Lower Columbia also lost its Elite Eight matchup, 71-54 to Walla Walla. Lower Columbia was led in scoring by Port Angeles High School graduate Bailee Larson, who scored 15 points.
Umpqua 73, Peninsula 55
Ump. 8 20 19 26 — 73
PC 15 16 4 20 — 55
Umpqua (73) — Miller 17, Fely 14, Afatasi 13, Aiono 13, Bennett 6, Lealaitafea 5, Noyce 3, Polamalu 2.
Peninsula (55) — Julmist 17, Mackey 13, Agasiva 10, Moananu 8, Suaava 3, Donovan 3, Pedebone 1.
