Photo: Malia Garcia and Ryana Moss celebrate after the Peninsula Pirates defeated Treasure Valley 70–66 in the NWAC Sweet 16. (Photo by Jay Cline)
By Oly Archibald
PORT ANGELES — March Madness is here, and the Peninsula Pirates women’s basketball team is right in the middle of it.
The 24–4 Pirates held off Treasure Valley 70–66 in their Sweet 16 victory and knocked off NWAC power Umpqua 71–57 in their Elite Eight matchup yesterday.
Except for a sluggish first quarter against Treasure Valley, the Pirates as a team played some of their best basketball of the season, highlighted by several impressive individual performances.
In the 70–66 win over the 18–11 Chukars, Treasure Valley came out on fire and led by 14 points with 5:50 left in the second quarter.
But Ryana Moss hit two three-pointers, and Aspen Fraser and Malia Garcia came off the Pirate bench to energize Peninsula. The Pirates went on a 12–0 run to cut the deficit to just two points at halftime, trailing 35–33.
The Pirates’ defense shut down the Chukars’ offense in the third quarter, holding them to just nine points. Peninsula led 47–44 after three quarters and stretched the lead to eight points at the 7:59 mark of the fourth quarter.
Pirate post Alecsis Smith delivered another MVP performance, scoring 25 points, pulling down nine rebounds, and dishing out four assists.
Freshman Aspen Fraser came off the bench and helped turn the game around, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocked shots.
Pirates freshman Aspen Fraser scored 15 points in Peninsula’s Sweet 16 victory over Treasure Valley. (Photo by Jay Cline)
Ryana Moss added 10 points, icing the game with late free throws. Kimberlee Brown and Makena Patrick both scored seven points, while Patrick also grabbed 13 rebounds and hit late free throws to seal the win.
Against 22–9 Umpqua, the Pirates played strong basketball for all four quarters. The Riverhawks led after the first quarter 14–13.
In the second quarter, Kimberlee Brown and Malia Garcia took control of the game.
Brown, a 5-foot-9 freshman from Orem, Utah, led all scorers with 16 points and went 4-of-6 from the three-point line.
Garcia, a 5-foot-9 freshman from Mount Vernon, was all over the floor with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
Alecsis Smith added 12 points with six rebounds and three assists, while Makena Patrick chipped in 10 points.
Freshman Haley Ostrander provided a spark off the bench, hitting two three-pointers and finishing with eight points.
Ryana Moss scored eight points with two three-pointers and played lockdown defense on Umpqua’s Rebekah Beltran. The All-Southern Region first-team selection came into the game averaging 16 points per game, but Moss held her to just five points with only a couple minutes remaining in the game.
Pirates starting point guard Carliese O’Brien also showed incredible toughness, playing 24 minutes across the two games despite a torn ACL.
The Pirates now advance to the Final Four, where they will face 27–4 defending NWAC champion Walla Walla, a team that beat Peninsula twice earlier this season.
Walla Walla earned its spot in the semifinals with a one-point win over Lane College.
Kimberlee Brown speaks on the KONP postgame show after leading the Pirates with 16 points in their Elite Eight win over Umpqua.
The Pirates–Warriors semifinal matchup is set for Friday night at 7:00 in Pasco.
The game will be broadcast on KONP Newsradio.