Women's Basketball Comes Up Short at NWAC Crossover

MOSES LAKE, Wash. - Women's basketball visited Moses Lake, Washington, for the 2022 NWAC Women's Basketball Crossover Tournament hosted by Big Bend College. Each year the Northwest Athletic Conference selects regional sites that will host a three-day tournament featuring teams from each of the NWAC's four regions. Big Bend Community College's site featured the host school Big Bend Community College, SPSCC, and Lane Community College. Unfortunately, the fourth member of the crossover, Whatcom Community College, failed to make the trip due to weather concerns.

With Whatcom withdrawing, the schedule for the tournament changed, and instead of facing Whatcom, the Clippers now faced off with the top-ranked team in the NWAC, the Lane Community College Titans. The Titans entered the contest undefeated, with seven wins on the season. The seventh-ranked Clippers' offense sputtered from the opening tip as they were held to 23.1 percent shooting on the night. The lack of scoring was the Clippers' main issue and proved too much to overcome. South Puget Sound trailed by 21 at halftime and would finish the contest with a 78-43 defeat. SPSCC had three players reach double-figure scoring, with Honey Let Padasdao, Sharay Trotter, and Payten Foster all scoring ten or more.

With the change of schedule, Friday turned into an off day for the Clippers, and they would use it to prepare for a match-up with host-school Big Bend Community College. While the offense was an issue against Lane, that was not true against Big Bend. The Clippers scored 47 points in the opening half and held a four-point lead at the break. However, the third quarter belonged to the Vikings of BBCC as they scorched the nets en route to a twelve-point advantage. The Clippers battled back behind the 26 points of Payten Foster, and with 4.7 left in the fourth quarter, Big Bend fouled Honey Let Padasdao, which sent her to the free-throw line for two shots. With the Clippers trailing by three, Padasdao knocked down the first free throw. South Puget Sound intentionally missed the second free throw, resulting in a jump ball that gave the Clippers possession with 4.3 seconds remaining. Coach Vining's club ran a sideline set and got the ball into freshman Kadance Blankers' hands, and she was able to get off a clean shot to win the game but it came up just short as time expired. The heart-breaking loss is the first time the Clippers have lost back-to-back games this season. Point guard Brandie Tobin had her best game of the year as she stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds.

Next up:
The women's basketball program will travel north to the Skagit Valley for the Skagit Valley College Holiday Tournament starting December 28th. They will face Wenatchee Valley at 5:00 pm on the 28th, and the contest will be live-streamed on the NWAC Sports Network.