PASCO — Walla Walla Community College could not find its shooting touch here Saturday in NWAC East Region women’s basketball action. Columbia Basin raced to 14-4 advantage after the first 10 minutes, and the Warriors could not catch up as Columbia Basin raced to a 66-47 win.
“The first quarter was the ball game,” Warriors coach Bobbi Hazeltine said. “They shot the lights out and we missed everything. Our defense wasn’t very good. You can’t get down big to a good team. We cut it to 10. Bottom line, we got off to a really bad start, dug a hole, and couldn’t get back out.”
Every team suffers a rough night shooting the ball, and the Warriors put it all in one night. WWCC hit 16-of-70 from the floor, including 5-of-30 from beyond the arc, and the Hawks were hitting 26-of-61 from the floor which told the story on this night.
Cierra Jo McKeown led the Warriors with 14, but was the only Warrior to reach double digits.
The Hawks were paced by Sierra Perez with 16 and Emily Botkin with 15. Botkin led the Hawks to a 49-41 rebounding edge as she pulled down a game-high 12.
Jade Skidmore led the Warrior rebounders with a 10 board effort. Teresa Acock, Makenzie Reddish, and Kate Ferenz followed McKeown in the scoring column with six each for the Warriors.
The Hawks improve to 4-3 in the East and the Warriors drop to 6-2.
WWCC, ranked #5 in the latest NWAC Coaches poll, hosts first-place, undefeated 8-0 in the East, and #3 ranked Spokane Wednesday.
