Lady Clippers Defeat Big Bend in Sweet 16 Game, Fall to Peninsula in Elite Eight Matchup

The South Puget Sound Community College Women's Basketball team defeated the Big Bend Vikings 57-45 in their Sweet 16 game of the NWAC Basketball Championships to advance to the Elite Eight. This marks the first win for the Lady Clippers in the NWAC tournament since the 2007-08 season when SPSCC defeated Umpqua 77-63 in their first game.

"It was a huge gritty team win. Jaynee Tanner and Taylor Teeple played the inside game really well, but for our guards to be able to defend, get back, and communicate, that was the big piece for us to be successful," said Head Coach Darah Vining about the team's performance in the Sweet 16 game against Big Bend.

The Lady Clippers came into the tournament as the #3 seed from the West Region and faced off against the #2 seed from the East in Big Bend. Despite their lower seeding, the Clippers have been a formidable team all year and had the advantage of seeing the Lady Vikings team and defeating them earlier in the season.

Right from the tip, the Clips defended the Vikings well and held them to only six points in the first quarter. However, the same can be said about Big Bend's defensive pressure on the Clippers with both teams struggling to get shots to sink. The second quarter was a better one for the Clippers' offense with Sophmores Vy Tran and Taylor Teeple contributing a combined 15 points for the quarter while the defense kept the Big Bend offense at bay.

The Vikings' overreliance on getting shots from beyond the arc to sink was their downfall in this game as the Clippers' tough perimeter defense forced Big Bend to shoot some less-than favorable shots from three. The Clips held the Vikings to an abysmal 7% shooting from the three-point line and 24% from the field for the entire game.

Despite the fact that the Clippers' offense struggled in the second half, their defensive efforts really helped them come away with the 12-point victory. The duo of Teeple and Jaynee Tanner were at it again, leading the team with 17 and 16 points respectively, and (once again) snatched enough rebounds to finish the game with double-doubles.

However, the joy was short lived for the Clips as they had to regroup quickly for another game the following day against the #1 seed from the North Region, the Peninsula Pirates. From the start, the Clippers did not matchup well against Peninsula. The Pirates kept finding a way to penetrate through the Clips' defense and score from the paint – with 50 of their 79 points coming from within the paint. Additionally, SPSCC continued to struggle to get shots to go down in the first half and found themselves down 21 points at halftime.

The offense came alive for the Clips down the stretch, but by that time it was too little, too late as the ladies could not overcome the Pirates' insurmountable lead. Peninsula proved too strong for the Lady Clips and sent them home with a 79-52 defeat. Sophomore Guard Bryten Gumke had a good day shooting the ball from beyond the arc and finished the game with 14 points, and Tanner polished off the year adding one more double-double to her tally (10 points, 11 rebounds).