Winchester – The No. 2-ranked Umpqua Community College women’s basketball team battled against the No. 3-ranked Lane Titans Wednesday night to a 77-58 victory.
With the win, the Riverhawks took over sole possession of first place in the Northwest Athletic Conference South Region. Along with the win, the Lady Riverhawks avenge an earlier loss 69-78 to Lane back on December 4th in the championship game of the Bellevue Bulldog Classic.
“I thought we did a really good job,” UCC head coach Dave Stricklin said. “Especially defensively, we played them earlier in December and we knew we had to be better defensively. That was our goal and that’s what we have been working on the last couple days.”
After the first bucket of the game by the Riverhawks, the Titans went on an 8-0 run which was then followed by a UCC 8-0 run. After a lackluster first quarter for the Riverhawks, the Titans led 18-12.
Things began to turn around for Umpqua (15-2; 4-0 League) in the second quarter, as they went on a 10-0 run to start. The Riverhawks began to execute on offense and picked up their activity defensively. UCC led 33-26 at intermission.
“We’ve been playing primarily zone most of the year,” Stricklin said. “Tonight was the first game all year that we played all man to man. I thought the girls really did a good job, especially since we played Monday so it was a short preparation. We’re using some things that we haven’t even tried in preseason.”
In the third quarter, the Riverhawks built their lead on a 16-2 run by working the ball into the post. Lane (14-3; 3-1 League) continued to crowd the paint and double team players in the post, which created opportunities for other shooters. Dajanay Powell continually got deep post position and would either turn and score or kick to an open shooter. Jordan Stotler had back-to-back corner threes which helped give the Riverhawks the momentum they needed. After three quarters the Riverhawks led 58-44.
“We made some shots. They’re trying to keep the ball away from Daisy (Powell) and they dropped completely off. Jordan Stotler hit a couple big threes and Jacque (Lauders) hit a couple big threes. I thought that was the difference when we were able to extend the lead a little bit,” said Stricklin. “We’ve been shooting the ball really well. I’m happy about the progression we’ve made throughout the season so far.”
“I just wanted to get rebounds,” Stotler said. “I wasn’t expecting to get outside shots very much, but it opened up. It was mostly defense for me. I love shooting outside, but I wasn’t expecting them to drop off that much, but I’m glad they did because I love shooting threes.
Stotler led the Riverhawks with 24 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. Bria Thames had 15 points and eight rebounds. Powell had a strong night with 14 points and 15 rebounds coming off the bench.
“The difference tonight was Daisy,” Stricklin said. “She hadn’t played, she’s played four minutes in the last two and a half weeks. Her knee is bothering her a little bit and she pushed through. She has great hands. One person can’t guard her. It changed the complete dynamic in the game.”
Dajanay (Daisy) Powell said it felt good to get out on the floor, but it wasn’t easy. “It always feels like I’m getting welcomed back on the team. They always tell me I make a difference. It was painful at times but I had to push through it for myself and my team.”
“It’s amazing, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Powell when talking about the team’s success so far this season. “We try to make sure we keep thinking where we want to be, where we need to be, how to get there, what we need to do to get there. We just take it day-by-day and stay focused to get where we need to get.”
Umpqua out-rebounded Lane 34-58, which led to 23 second chance points. The Riverhawks assisted on 14 of their 30 made field goals.
“It was really exciting,” Stotler added on the importance of the win against Lane. “We’re all happy, we wanted to win, but didn’t expect to win by a lot. We just went out there as strong as we could and it paid off.”
The Umpqua women host Clackamas Community College Saturday at 2 p.m.
“Clackamas always shoots really well here,” Stricklin said. “There are teams out there that can definitely beat us if we don’t play hard.”
The Titans were led by Sarah Hall who had 19 points and Sierra Carrier added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Umpqua (77) – Jordan Stotler 7-22 7-8 24, Powell 7-13 0-0 14, Thames 6-8 2-4 15, Luaders 3-7 0-0 9, Bilbrew 1-7 0-0 2, Grenfell 1-6 0-0 2, Backen 5-14 0-2 11. Totals 30-78 9-14 77.
Lane (58) – Sarah Hall 8-19 3-4 19, Carrier 7-18 2-6 16, Rodriguez 2-7 0-0 6, Heehn 0-0 0-0 0, Tobey 0-1 0-0 0, Newton 0-1 0-0 0, Tullock 0-3 0-0 0, Fielder 3-12 1-2 7, Shields 0-0 0-0 0, Lease 2-7 3-6 7, Russell 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 23-70 9-18 58.
UCC 12 21 25 19- 77
Lane 18 8 18 14- 58
3-Point Field Goals – UCC 8-25 (Bracken 1-6, Thames 1-1, Luaders 3-6, Stotler 3-7), Lane 3-12 (Rodriguez 2-5, Russell 1-1). Total Fouls – UCC 17, Lane 17. Rebounds – UCC 58 (Stotler 18), Lane 34 (Carrier 10). Assists – UCC 14 (Bilbrew 5), Lane 9 (Fielder 3). Turnovers – UCC 12, Lane 11.
