Lady Vikings take third place in Bellevue

BELLEVUE — Following a tough semifinal loss at the Bulldog Classic, the Big Bend Community College Lady Vikings basketball team showed its resiliency with a resounding 74-67 comeback win over Highland Community College on Sunday.

Big Bend trailed 34-32 at halftime before mounting a strong second half helping them take third at the tournament.

“This tourney was a great opportunity to see where we stand in the NWAACC,” Big Bend coach Preston Wilks said. “Mt Hood and Highland both made it to the NWAACC tournament last year and return many players from last year’s team. Both teams are very aggressive and play full-court pressure defense. I was a little nervous about how’d we respond to the pressure since the season is just starting.”

Mt. Hood defeated the Lady Vikings (2-1) 59-47 in the semifinals on Saturday.

“In both games it took us a while to get used to the pressure, but I was proud of how the ladies responded,” Wilks said. “We were down by double-digit deficits in the 1st half of both games, but we were patient and we became comfortable with the pressure and clawed ourselves back into it and took the lead.”

Against Highland, Dana Bates led the Lady Vikings with 32 points including three three-pointers, while collecting 17 rebounds.

“Dana Bates had perhaps one of the better basketball performances I have witnessed at the JC level,” Wilks said. “In the second half, she literally put us on her back and took us to victory. Couple of her shots were NBA range with defenders in her face.”

Alex Canfield chipped in with 19 points and five rebounds and Chayla Hirz popped in 12 points for Big Bend.

Both teams almost shot identical percentages from the field and the line and committed the approximate amount of turnovers.

The only key differences were Big Bend getting six more offensive rebounds and taking 11 more shots which gave them more opportunities to score, aiding in the victory.

“We took the lead for good and this time, hit shots and got the stops we needed down the stretch,” Wilks said.

In the loss to Mt. Hood the Lady Vikings shot only 24 percent from the field, including 5-for-23 from the three-point line. In comparison, Mt. Hood shoot 47 percent to take the win.

“Against Mt Hood we just didn’t finish well, and cooled off once we took the lead,” Wilks said about his squad losing the advantage over the game’s last seven minutes. “Several key turnovers and three successive jumpers by tournament MVP Shawnelle Campbell saw our lead slip away.”

Bates had 11 points and nine rebounds while Alia Parker scored 11 points as well for Big Bend.

The Lady Vikings kick-started their tournament appearance with an emphatic 75-37 win over Green River Community College on Friday.

Bates scored 14 points and pulled in 10 rebounds, while Canfield collected 10 points and four rebounds.

Kendra Schwulst scored 11 points of the bench and Alia Parker had nine points and seven assists.

Big Bend shot 47 percent from the field and made 10 three-pointers while holding Green River to 31 percent from the field.

“I believe these games were important for our progress this year as we are now a little more battle-tested,” Wilks said. “The freshmen got a look at the intensity and physicality of the game at this level.”

Bates was named to the All-Tournament Team with averages of 19 points and 12 rebounds over three games.