Title = Defended! Warriors Claim 2nd Consecutive NWAC Women's Basketball Championship

Pasco, WA - Winning an NWAC Championship is a challenging task in itself, therefore winning two in consecutive years would seem like an improbable feat. However, back in November, that was exactly what the Walla Walla Community College Women's Basketball team set out to do and on Sunday afternoon, they officially checked the box as task completed! With a 57-46 victory over Clackamas, the Warriors claimed the 2026 NWAC Women's Basketball title, their fifth in program history and second in a row. For head coach, Bobbi Hazeltine, this championship moves her into the solo second place spot for most NWAC Women's Basketball coaching championships in all of NWAC history with five!

Throughout the entirety of the season, the defensive ability of this Warrior squad has been highly touted and it was a major factor in the championship-winning victory. WWCC held a Clackamas team that entered the game undefeated on the season, to season lows in points (46) and shooting percentage (22.7%). This defensive effort and a hot offensive start by the Warriors helped them earn an early 21-4 scoring advantage at the end of the first quarter, which would be a deficit that was too large for Clackamas to overcome. Walla Walla would finish shooting 37.7% from the field and also out-rebounded the Cougars 53-35 in the wire to wire win.

Hadley Fraas was named NWAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Warriors in scoring with 16 points in the championship game. Fraas averaged 17.5 points per game in the tournament to go with 9.5 rebounds per game. Averee Osterout played all 40 minutes of the championship game, finishing with 11 points, 9 of which came on a 9/11 shooting night at the free throw line. She also collected 6 rebounds and led WWCC in assists with 3. Logan Sailors and Addy Laible both finished with 10 points a piece, Laible secured 11 rebounds to earn the double-double and Sailors added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals to her stat line.

Walla Walla finishes the season with an overall record of 29-4 and completed the year on a streak of 10 straight wins en route to the NWAC Championship! Coach Hazeltine and her team will gladly enjoy their achievements for a few days, before getting back to work and turning their attention to an attempt at 3 straight NWAC Championships beginning this upcoming fall.