YAKIMA – For the Walla Walla Community College women’s basketball team, 87 was the magic number here Friday and Saturday in the Yakima Valley College Tip-Off Tournament.
The Warriors opened with an 87-66 win over Grays Harbor on Friday, and followed on Saturday with an identical scoring output, dropping the Yakima Valley All-Stars 87-48.
WWCC, now 2-0, face a tough challenge today in the form of Yakima’s Lady Elite team. That club features several Division I players and his fronted by former WNBA player Shoni Schimmel.
On Friday, Grays Harbor took a 16-14 first-quarter lead before the Warriors turned the tables and outscored the Chokers 31-20 in the second quarter for a 45-36 advantage at the break.
“It kinda took us awhile to get going,” WWCC coach Bobbi Hazeltine said.
Cierra Jo McKeown led four Warriors in double figures with 25 points. Teresa Acock tallied 23 points, Kortney Hutchison scored 12 and Jade Skidmore notched 11.
“It tool ‘em awhile to get going, but scoring 87 points in your opener is pretty good,” Hazeltine said.
Scoring that many points for the second night in a row was again a product of a quartet of Warriors scoring in double-figures. Acock tallied 19. McKeown scored 18, Skidmore scored 16 and Malorie Bowen came off the bench to contribute 14 points.
The Warriors are somewhat vertically challenged, but they still took a 53-30 rebounding advantage over the Valley All-Stars after controlling the boards 50-37 against Grays Harbor. Skidmore led the way with 13 boards on Saturday, while Taylor Turner nabbed 13 rebounds to pace WWCC Friday.
“We’re pretty short this year,” Hazeltine said, “but if you can get kids in double figures rebounding that’s pretty good.”
Skidmore, a 5-foot-7 point guard, had a dozen rebounds against Grays Harbor, giving her back-to-back double figures on the boards.
Against this season’s competition, the Warriors are “going to be the shortest (team), but we’re big on heart and we’re playing pretty well right now,” Hazeltine said.
Friday
WWCC 87, Grays Harbor 66
Grays Harbor (66) — Brisbois 3 1-2 9, Wilson 3 2-2 8, Thrower 6 3-4 15, Sikora 3 3-4 11, Kidder 5 2-2 13, Feaster 1 0-0 2, Bell 2 0-1 4, Sunchild 1 2-2 4, Hernandez 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 13-17 66.
WWCC (87) — McKeown 9 3-4 25, Acock 8 2-5 23,
Skidmore 2 6-6 11, Hutchison 2 7-8 12, Turner 1 3-8 5, Lyon 0 0-0 0, Radford 3 3-4 9, Renfro 1 0-2 2, Bowen 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 24-37 87.
Grays Harbor16201713—66
WWCC14311725—87
3-point goals — Grays Harbor 5 (Brisbois 2, Sikora 2, Kidder), WWCC 11 (McKeown 4, Acock 5, Skidmore, Hutchison). Total fouls — Grays Harbor 28, WWCC 16. Fouled out — Grays Harbor (Brisbois, Kidder). Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — Grays Harbor 37 (Thrower 10), WWCC 50 (Turner 13). Turnovers — Grays Harbor 16, WWCC 12. Assists — Grays Harbor 15 (Sikora 5), WWCC 14 (Skidmore 5).
Saturday
WWCC 87, Valley All-Stars 48
WWCC (87) — McKeown 7 0-0 18, Acock 7 2-2 19, Skidmore 8 0-0 16, Hutchison 0 0-0 0, Turner 3 0-2 6, Lyon 0 0-0 0, Radford 4 0-0 8, Renfro 1 3-4 6, Bowen 5 4-4 14, Mosley 0 0-0 0. Totals 35 9-12 87.
Valley All-Stars (48) — A. Blodgett 6 4-4 17, Ross 1 0-0 3, Botkins 3 0-0 8, S. Blodgett 5 1-2 14, Zapien 3 0-0 6, Winchester 0 0-0 0, Hawkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-6 48.
WWCC20261922—87
Valley All-Stars10131411—66
3-point goals — WWCC 8 (McKeown 4, Acock 3, Renfro), Valley All-Stars 7 (A. Blodgett, Ross, Botkins 2, S. Blodgett 3). Total fouls — WWCC 11, Valley All-Stars 11. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — WWCC 53 (Skidmore 13), Valley All-Stars 30 (Botkins 7). Turnovers — WWCC 7, Valley All-Stars 11. Assists — WWCC 13 (Skidmore 6), Valley All-Stars 7 (A. Blodgett 4).
nwacsports.org
