Lady Vikings take fourth at Edmonds CC

LYNNWOOD — The Big Bend Community College women’s basketball team captured fourth place at the Lady Tritons Winter Classic at Edmonds Community College Tuesday, by virtue of their 59-58 win over Wenatchee Valley Community College.

The Lady Vikings bounced back from losing their opener 88-84 to Umpqua Community College on Sunday to record the win Tuesday and a 76-65 overtime win over Tacoma Community College on Monday to capture the consolation championship.

“At times we showed signs of being one of the better teams in the NWAACC (Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges) during this tournament,” Big Bend head coach Preston Wilks said. “We just need to work on playing that way consistently.”

Umpqua, the fifth-ranked team in the NWAACC scored 55 points in the second half to come back from a 46-33 halftime deficit.

Big Bend (5-3) made seven-of-eight three-pointers in the first half but shot only 38 percent from the field as a team in the second half.

Dana Bates led the Lady Vikings with 23 points while Ashley McGowan added 17 points.

In the win against Tacoma, Big Bend came out flat and fell behind by 15 points early on before cutting the gap to 32-30 at halftime.

The two teams battled back-and-forth after intermission with Bates hitting a game-tying shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, where the Lady Vikings outscored Tacoma CC 13-2.

Sarah Smith led Big Bend with 18 points while Alexandria Canfield added 15 points.

Bates finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Against Wenatchee Valley, Big Bend shot a putrid 1-for-16 from beyond the arc in the first half but managed to hold on to a 25-21 halftime lead and eventually hold on for the win.

Smith scored 17 points and Bates added 15 points and nine rebounds.

Bates was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Big Bend continues its season on Saturday against North Idaho College at 4 p.m.