NWAACC Women's Basketball
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Tournament Results | Video | Bracket | Tournament Stats | Game Recaps
Tournament Results | Video | Bracket | Tournament Stats | Game Recaps
The first round is often full of a few lop-sided drubbings, given the general unbalance between the powerful Eastern and Southern regions against the rest of the field, but a stronger Western contingent this season brings several intriguing match ups on Saturday. Lane and Highline, starting at 4 p.m., will be an interesting clash of styles; the Titans with a high-scoring offense, and the Thunderbirds slow, sure and defensive. The biggest gem of the first day is easily the game between No. 2 Clark and No. 6 Clackamas. The teams have already squared off with Clackamas taking the game at home by 15 points. They've had their struggles and Clark has been on fire, but if there's any upset alert in the first round, it's this one.
I will be in attendance writing game recaps for the league, as well as handing social media throughout the event, beginning on Sunday. Most tweets will be via the league twitter account, @NWAACC, but you can also follow me @JowardHoward for additional news and notes. Feel free to send me an email, leave a comment or drop in to say hello.
The Coaches Poll, released on Feb. 25, are in italics below each team's ranking.
No. 1 Coaches
Last set: No. 1, No. 1 Coaches
In a conference and a sport where momentum means an awful lot, it's perfectly acceptable to raise the question: will the best team in the league feel the effects of a loss (69-57 [box] to No. 7 Walla Walla) in their regular season finale once the championship tournament rolls around? Heading into the last game of the season against the Warriors, the Hawks had already clinched the Eastern Region's top seed. There wasn't a point, really, of playing their starters because a loss wouldn't change their position in the standings. And to coach Cheryl Holden's credit, getting a little extra rest for the team will go a long way during the grueling, four-day tournament, but will rest turn to rust? The league's top defensive program - and we all know defense wins championships (hint) - will surely show up, but it will be interesting to see how they perform after snapping a 17-game losing streak in their last outing. 18 games would have been awfully intimidating.
No. 1 Columbia Basin will take on Peninsula, the 4-seed from the Northern Region, a 8 p.m. on Saturday evening.
2. Clark (23-3, 15-1 West)No. 2 Coaches
Last set: No. 4, No. 3 coaches
Every time there's a highly ranked Western Region team, the argument against them is always strength of schedule. This year, however, the West seems to be the strongest it's been in several seasons. And with the exception of a few bottom-feeders on their schedule, Clark has had a far more difficult schedule this year than many people would give them credit for. They've only lost once since Dec. 7, and their loss to No. 4 Lower Columbia was only by four points. They continue to have one of the best defenses in the league as one of only five teams averaging lower than 60 defensive points per game. On the flip side, they're second in scoring behind Lane, averaging over 82 points a game. That's a good combination, and they'll likely need both to get past a brutal first-round draw: No. 6 Clackamas. The Cougars are one of only three teams to have beaten Clark this season, and given the hot finish for Clackamas, this will be the premiere match up on Saturday between two of the best defensive squads the league as a whole.
No. 2 Clark will have their hands full, playing the fourth-seeded No. 6 Clackamas from the Southern Region at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
3. Umpqua (21-6, 10-2 South)No. 3 Coaches
Last set: No. 2, No. 3 coaches
Coming down the final stretch, the Riverhawks looked next to unstoppable. They have one of the highest scoring offenses, coming in third with just over 80 points a game. They'd recently blown out No. 5 Lane 85-66 [box] and had won seven straight. Then, the offensive buzz-saw that is Clackamas when they're on. It exposes a fairly delicate part of the Umpqua underbelly: they kinda can't stop anybody. They have the lowest rated defense of any ranked team at over 70 points per game, meaning they'll need all of those points on offense just to keep up. And as I've written about in the past, it's rare that running teams do well at the NWAACC tournament. Sure, the first day or two they'll be fine, but you'll start to see them wear down. The press becomes a little easier to beat, they're not as fast down the floor, and by the time they get used to shooting in so much open space, their legs are tired. That said, they're excellent on the boards (51+ per game, best in the league) and very skilled on offense. Low assists and low steal numbers are unusual for such a high-scoring team, but they do it on the offensive boards. Catch a team napping, and they'll get their doors blown off.
No. 3 Umpqua will match up with unranked Centralia, the fourth seed from the West, at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
4. Lower Columbia (21-6, 13-1 West)No. 2 Coaches
Last set: No. 2, No. 2 coaches
The Red Devils had a pretty boisterous coming out party in early February when they knocked off No. 2 Clark and Highline in back-to-back games to take a slim lead in the rejuvenated Western Region. Amidst all the celebration, though, somebody forgot they still had Pierce on the schedule, and Lower Columbia netted a season-low 45 points in a 56-45 road loss [box] to the Raiders on Feb. 12, and with it they lost their shot at a region title. Going 1-23 from three-point range and not getting a single player to double figures will lose you a fair handful of games, but what's particularly puzzling about this one is that it came at the hands of a team that didn't qualify for the post season. Maybe it's a testament to the resurgence of the West, but it knocked them out of an extremely difficult first-round match up with No. 6 Clackamas and into an ironically more favorable game with unranked Chemeketa. The Storm has the "best defense" in the NWAACC, but they play at an extremely slow pace, allowing them to throw games into molasses and hope to grind it out. They're in the bottom five in shots attempted per game, and average less than 62 points per contest. The Red Devils have momentum here, will we see two Western teams win on day one?
No. 4 Lower Columbia will play unranked Chemeketa from the Southern Region on Saturday night at 10 p.m.
5. Lane (19-5, 6-2 South)No. 5 Coaches
Last set: No. 5, No. 4 coaches
Here's an easy way to break down Lane's offense: If you matched them up with Mt. Hood, the league lowest-scoring team at 53.5 points per contest, and allowed the Titans to score from only the free-throw line and from behind the arc, they might win. And that's just the current numbers: they average almost 44 points a game from those two sources alone, and when they're on from outside, awesome. More power to ya. The problem is, that doesn't always happen. They fit a fairly common format for a womens' basketball team that works for easy layups and shoots three pointers. They lead the league in free-throw attempts and are third in three-point attempts, but it's gotten them into trouble several times, most recently in their regular season finale. With a win, the Titans would have tied up No. 3 Umpqua for the top spot in the South and finished with a better overall record. Instead, they ended up dropping a 64-63 game [box] to unranked Chemeketa in which they went 4-24 from downtown. They've got Highline in the first round, another slow-paced team that likely won't get up and down the floor and into a run-and-gun game that would benefit Lane. Highline's best chance is to slow the game down and force Lane to beat them in the half court, but it'll be far more difficult than it sounds.
No. 5 Lane will take on unranked Highline from the West in the 4 p.m. game on Saturday.
6. Clackamas (19-6, 8-4 South)
No. 7 coaches
Last set: No. 7, No. 5 coaches
Of any underdog team in the first round, the Cougars are easily the most dangerous, despite the ugly match up awaiting them in the first round. The haters always get on my case about being a homer, but look at some of the numbers: Since early in the year, nobody - absolutely nobody - has put a whipping on No. 3 Umpqua like Clackamas has, blowing past the Riverhawks 81-66 [box] on Feb. 15 to reignite their postseason push. Clackamas is one of those teams that is next to unstoppable when they get into a rhythm, and much of the reason is where they get their points. The Cougars lead in three-pointers made per game by a mile, hitting more than ten treys on a nightly basis. They also move the ball well, a common part of coach Jim Martineau's offenses, and have been gifted with one of the better multi-talented players in the league. Sophomore guard Laci Effenberger, who was featured recently in the Oregonian, is in on the leaderboards in scoring, steals, assists and three-point percentage, and is part of a Cougar squad that can be one of two very different: red-hot or ice cold. Thankfully, the defense is always there, and we know what defense does, don't we?
No. 6 Clackamas will play No. 2 Clark at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
7. Walla Walla (18-7, 12-2 East)
No. 5 Coaches
Last set: No. 3, No. 5 Coaches
Last set's entry for DubDub (That's Walla Walla, for you newbies) felt like somewhat of a pat on the back. Good job, guys, you're the second seed in the Eastern Region. That deserves something, right? And that might have been the case once again for the Warriors, if not for their season finale. In the entry for CBC this week, it talks about how the Hawks had already sewn up the region title, and didn't see much point in risking injury and overworking their players in a game that wouldn't change anything. Except, the Hawks didn't just throw in the towel. Maybe they knew it didn't matter, but maybe - just maybe - the Warriors are that good. They've won seven in a row now, and the interesting thing about their win over CBC is that they forced many of the Hawk players into horrendous shooting nights in their limited minutes. They'll get Skagit Valley in the first round, and if they make it to the second, the fast-paced Umpqua Riverhawks, which could make for an interesting game given that Walla Walla is one of the slower (successfully slower) teams in the league.
No. 7 Walla Walla will play the third seed from the Northern Region, the Skagit Valley Cardinals, at noon on Saturday.
8. Bellevue (20-7, 13-1 North)
No. 8 Coaches
Last set: No. 8, No. 7 Coaches
Northern Region fans who have skimmed the first seven entries in disgust, you finally get your due. The most dangerous thing about Bellevue is mental: they've won 15 of their last 16 games, aside from a three-point loss to Skagit Valley, and enter the tournament on a eight game winning streak. Perhaps the most incredible part of the Bellevue ensemble, though is head coach Jeremy Eggers, who has coached both the womens' team AND the mens' team to the NWAACC tournament. Right off the bat, though, they've got to deal with a bull in a china shop in the Spokane backcourt, sophomore guard Riley Holsinger. She's broken just about every record the Sasquatch have to offer, and will be a difficult assignment, especially early in the tournament. Momentum can carry a team quite an impressive distance, though, and thankfully for Eggers, he'll at least have two hours to prepare for the mens' game after the women have finished playing.
No. 8 Bellevue will see unranked Spokane, the fourth seed from the Eastern Region, in the first round at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.
No. 5 Lane will take on unranked Highline from the West in the 4 p.m. game on Saturday.
6. Clackamas (19-6, 8-4 South)No. 7 coaches
Last set: No. 7, No. 5 coaches
Of any underdog team in the first round, the Cougars are easily the most dangerous, despite the ugly match up awaiting them in the first round. The haters always get on my case about being a homer, but look at some of the numbers: Since early in the year, nobody - absolutely nobody - has put a whipping on No. 3 Umpqua like Clackamas has, blowing past the Riverhawks 81-66 [box] on Feb. 15 to reignite their postseason push. Clackamas is one of those teams that is next to unstoppable when they get into a rhythm, and much of the reason is where they get their points. The Cougars lead in three-pointers made per game by a mile, hitting more than ten treys on a nightly basis. They also move the ball well, a common part of coach Jim Martineau's offenses, and have been gifted with one of the better multi-talented players in the league. Sophomore guard Laci Effenberger, who was featured recently in the Oregonian, is in on the leaderboards in scoring, steals, assists and three-point percentage, and is part of a Cougar squad that can be one of two very different: red-hot or ice cold. Thankfully, the defense is always there, and we know what defense does, don't we?
No. 6 Clackamas will play No. 2 Clark at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
7. Walla Walla (18-7, 12-2 East)No. 5 Coaches
Last set: No. 3, No. 5 Coaches
Last set's entry for DubDub (That's Walla Walla, for you newbies) felt like somewhat of a pat on the back. Good job, guys, you're the second seed in the Eastern Region. That deserves something, right? And that might have been the case once again for the Warriors, if not for their season finale. In the entry for CBC this week, it talks about how the Hawks had already sewn up the region title, and didn't see much point in risking injury and overworking their players in a game that wouldn't change anything. Except, the Hawks didn't just throw in the towel. Maybe they knew it didn't matter, but maybe - just maybe - the Warriors are that good. They've won seven in a row now, and the interesting thing about their win over CBC is that they forced many of the Hawk players into horrendous shooting nights in their limited minutes. They'll get Skagit Valley in the first round, and if they make it to the second, the fast-paced Umpqua Riverhawks, which could make for an interesting game given that Walla Walla is one of the slower (successfully slower) teams in the league.
No. 7 Walla Walla will play the third seed from the Northern Region, the Skagit Valley Cardinals, at noon on Saturday.
8. Bellevue (20-7, 13-1 North)No. 8 Coaches
Last set: No. 8, No. 7 Coaches
Northern Region fans who have skimmed the first seven entries in disgust, you finally get your due. The most dangerous thing about Bellevue is mental: they've won 15 of their last 16 games, aside from a three-point loss to Skagit Valley, and enter the tournament on a eight game winning streak. Perhaps the most incredible part of the Bellevue ensemble, though is head coach Jeremy Eggers, who has coached both the womens' team AND the mens' team to the NWAACC tournament. Right off the bat, though, they've got to deal with a bull in a china shop in the Spokane backcourt, sophomore guard Riley Holsinger. She's broken just about every record the Sasquatch have to offer, and will be a difficult assignment, especially early in the tournament. Momentum can carry a team quite an impressive distance, though, and thankfully for Eggers, he'll at least have two hours to prepare for the mens' game after the women have finished playing.
No. 8 Bellevue will see unranked Spokane, the fourth seed from the Eastern Region, in the first round at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.
