Big Bend women ready to climb the mountain in NWAC semifinal against Walla Walla
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Leah Dougherty (10) has been a big part of the Big Bend pressure defense so far during the NWAC Tournament. The Lady Vikings will have to throw everything they have against Walla Walla in Saturday's semifinal game.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Hailey Garrity (4) has had a double-double in both NWAC Tournament games so far. Her rebounding will be needed in Saturday's semifinal game against Walla Walla.
MOSES LAKE — It’s going to take a gigantic effort, one of historical standards. But that’s why they roll out the rock, hit the buzzer and let these things get decided on the court.
Big Bend Community College (22-9) rolled into the NWAC women’s basketball championships for the first time since 2003 as the No. 4 seed from the Eastern Region. They have become the Bracket Busters of the tournament, taking out No. 1 seed Grays Harbor and No. 2 seed Everett on the road to the Final Four. But now, they come up against their old nemesis from the East, Walla Walla (30-1), which just won its 28th consecutive game with an Elite Eight victory over Lane.
Saturday’s 8 p.m. semifinal (which can be seen on http://www.nwaacc.org/) is a monumental challenge. But all you have to do is look back to April Fool’s Day of last year when the nigh unbeatable Connecticut women saw their 111-game winning streak come to a screeching halt when they were torched by Mississippi State, a team they’d previously beaten by 60 points.
Strange things happen at tournament time and the Big Bend women are looking to ride the magic carpet one more time Saturday night when they take on Walla Walla in the NWAC women’s basketball championship semifinal game at Everett Community College.
The Lady Vikings lost to Walla Walla by 29 and 50 points during the regular season.
“The first thing we have to do is not get caught up in what has happened in the past,” head coach Preston Wilks said.
“You can’t let the past play with your mind. We’ve been working on getting our minds around the fact that we can do this.”
Sophomore Sunnie Martinez goes into the game averaging 39.5 percent from 3-point range. She had 11 from beyond the arc against Yakima Valley in the regular season finale.
“One of the things we’ve been really doing is studying a lot of film on how teams like to work. Some night’s it’s about scoring. Sometimes it’s defense. When we went to the press against Grays Harbor, I thought that was a turning point,” Martinez said. “So we’re doing whatever it takes and really studying who we’re playing.”
Big Bend will be without shooting guard Miranda Johnson, who had her leg rolled up on during the tournament opener.
“When it’s all said and done, we have to figure out a way to stop them,” Wilks said of a team averaging 80.1 points a game. “It’s a game of runs and we have to respond and not hit the panic button.”