Lady Clippers Fight Hard and Win Game Over Gators to Clinch #2 Seed in West Region

The SPSCC Women's Basketball team clinched the #2 seed in the West Region with a 67-59 win over the Green River Gators in their last game of the regular season.

"Green River is a tough team and it was definitely an emotional night for our three amazing sophomores," said Women's Basketball Head Coach Darah Vining. "We started off really high and we hit some adversity. The great thing about this team is that they never give up so they figured it out to pull out this win."

The Lady Clippers came into this game knowing that if they came out with a victory, they would nab the #2 seed in the West with a more favorable matchup against the #3 seed from the South. A loss would put the Gators ahead of them and move the Clips into the #3 seed and potentially a tougher matchup against the #2 seed from the South.

As the game got underway, the ladies were off to a fantastic start shooting 67% from the field and keeping the Gators to a 33% efficiency on their end and went into the second quarter with a 20-13 lead. With that said, the second quarter was one to forget as the Lady Clippers shot a measly 18% from the field and scored only 7 points in the quarter. Granted, the Gators were also not great in the second quarter (shooting 28% in the period), but they decent well enough to get them ahead 30-27 going into halftime.

After what must have been a rousing halftime pep talk from Coach Vining, the Lady Clippers came back out with a renewed vigor that saw them come out firing on all cylinders. The ladies played lockdown defense in the third quarter and forced Green River into low-percentage shots. This was evident as the Gators shot 25% in the third and 32% in the fourth as they went 12-42 in the latter stages of the game.

Meanwhile, the Clippers were smarter with their shot selection and fed the ball to Jaynee Tanner and Mia Martinez and it yielded great results as the Lady Clippers gained the lead back from Green River and started pulling away. The Clippers' resilient play and staunch defense helped them coast into an important win and as the final buzzer went off, the goal of locking down the #2 seed was accomplished. And as a double-overtime game in Oregon went final, the Lady Clippers had an opponent for their Sweet 16 game in the NWAC Basketball Championships in the Umpqua Riverhawks.

The ladies will have to wait until Saturday, March 7 at 10 am to faceoff against the Riverhawks as the NWAC Women's Basketball Championships get underway starting on March 6. All games will be held at Holden Court on Columbia Basin College's main campus.