Clipper WBB Suffers First Defeat in Conference Play

The Clipper Women’s Basketball conceded their first loss of the conference season in a close game against the Green River Gators. The team fought hard up until the final buzzer but Green River was able to hold the Clippers off in the final minutes for a 71-68 result.

“Green River gave us their best and they played really hard. When you’re sitting in a position like ours, that’s something that you have to be prepared for,” said Head Coach Darah Vining.

The game got off to a rough start for the Clippers. Only 8 of 18 shots went in for the ladies and the Gators were able to capitalize on that, hitting 61% of their first quarter shots to go up 10 at the first period. The second quarter went better for the Clips as the defense held the Gators to a 32% field goal percentage and the offense knocked down their shots to cut down the deficit to three by halftime.

It was a back-and-forth game for the latter half of the game, especially in the last five minutes which saw five lead changes. Unfortunately for the Clips, they were not able to convert some key shots and free-throw attempts and led to the Gators holding on to their slim lead for the last 20 seconds of the game.

“There were moments where we battled and where we played hard. That fourth quarter we battled, but if we could’ve done that work early, that wouldn’t have had been something we needed to worry about,” said Coach Vining about the performance late in the game. “I think our team played very hard. Can we be a little bit more disciplined? For sure. But again, a learning lesson early is better than at the end of season.”

There were some standout performances in this game as Taylor Teeple notched a big 22 points coming off the bench and Jaynee Tanner had an amazing performance on the boards, snatching 21 boards and recording 14 points for yet another double-double for the season.

Despite this loss, the Lady Clippers still hold on to the No. 1 seed in the West Region by virtue of having the better overall record at 16-6, but are essentially in a three-way tie with Lower Columbia and Green River who share the same 5-1 conference record as SPSCC.

With the NWAC releasing their bracket pairings for the tournament, the Clippers are still in contention and aim to qualify as the No. 1 seed from the West. The 1 seed from the West Region will play the fourth seed from the East on Thursday, March 6 in Pasco, Washington.

The Clipper Women’s Basketball team is back in action after a weekend off as they travel up the I-5 to take on Tacoma on Wednesday, Feb. 5. From there, the Lady Clips will play their fifth straight game away from home on Wednesday, Feb. 12 against Highline. For more information, please visit www.spsccathletics.com.