Transition game kills Vikings against top-ranked Hawks

MOSES LAKE - There are many reasons why the Columbia Basin Hawks are the top-ranked women's basketball team in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, and the Big Bend Lady Vikings discovered a few of those the hard way on Wednesday.

The Hawks (16-3 overall, 6-0 Eastern Region) ran the Vikings ragged with fast-break points, routing Big Bend 84-66 at DeVries Activity Center.

Big Bend (13-6, 3-3) played Columbia Basin fairly even for the first five minutes, but quickly fell behind in an avalanche of turnovers and transition breakdowns.

"I guess we weren't ready for what a great transition team they are," Lady Vikings head coach Preston Wilks said. "It kind of caught us off guard with how well they fast break."

The Vikings committed 34 turnovers and the Hawks turned them into 46 points. Columbia Basin had 20 steals, leading to layup after layup that helped the visitors shoot 51 percent from the floor.

Meanwhile, Big Bend wasn't able to respond at the offensive end because of what Wilks felt were poor passing angles. The Vikings did too much standing and not enough slashing to the basket.

"We've been preaching that the way to create better passing angles is attacking the basket," he said. "We just weren't doing that effectively tonight.

"We became real stale and started standing around in our motion offense."

The Hawks scored nine consecutive points to break from from an 11-11 tie and were never seriously threatened after that. Brittany Cherry did the most damage for the Hawks, scoring 12 of her 16 points before the intermission - most of them in transition.

The Vikings' ball handlers never looked comfortable against Columbia Basin's full-court pressure. Misty Ostlie, Kim Bluff and Dana Bates combined for 20 turnovers. Big Bend was still within striking distance before another rash of turnovers pushed the Hawks' halftime lead to 54-35.

Little changed in the second half, with the Hawks eventually building their lead to as many as 32. The Vikings made the final score more respectable by closing on a 26-13 run.

Bluff led all scorers with 19 points, 14 in the first half. She shot 5 of 10 from the floor and 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

Bates added 13 points, shooting 6 for 11, and added six rebounds and three steals. Kaitie Poston notched 10 points and six rebounds.

Alexandria Allen paced Columbia Basin with 18 points, 12 assists and four steals. Cherry had 16 and Nikki Depeel added 13 on 6 of 8 shooting. The Hawks had a 42-30 edge in rebounding, limiting Big Bend to only six offensive boards.

Wilks and his ladies aren't about to forget what happened. The post-game chat centered around making this loss a positive turning point.

"There are defining moments in the season where you look back on and you say, 'This was a turning point' or 'This is where we tanked it,'" Wilks said. "I told the girls I want this to be a defining moment where we learn to play team defense, because that's our problem right now."

Wilks believes the Vikings have the skill to play with anyone, but haven't found cohesion on the defensive end.

"That's a great team - they're the No. 1 team in the NWAACC and, boy, they deserve it," he said. "I think we're just as athletic as them, but we just played terrible defense tonight."

The team also needs better offense from its shooting guards. Heather Burke and Natalie Lindley went a combined 2 of 11 and scored just six points on Wednesday. That's not something Wilks expects, especially from Burke, the team's co-captain and probably its best long-range threat.

"She shot the ball well down at Treasure (Valley), so I'm not too concerned about that," the coach said. "Funny thing about Heather is she shoots the ball better on the road, and even she admits that.

"I think it's a confidence issue more than anything," he added. "We've got to have her shooting better, bottom line."

The Vikings have another key contest on Saturday when they travel to fourth-ranked Walla Walla (17-2, 4-2). The Warriors are just a game up in the East standings, so the winner figures to earn quite a bit of momentum.