NWAC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT: Pirates in the NWAC Final Four after handling Umpqua

Published 3:45 pm Saturday, March 7, 2026

PASCO — The Peninsula College women’s basketball team is headed to another NWAC Final Four, dispatching Umpqua 71-57 in the Pirates’ Elite Eight matchup Sunday.

In a much more stressful game, the Pirates had to come from way down in the first half, then fend off a late charge from Treasure Valley to win their NWAC opener 70-66 on Saturday.

The Pirates (24-4) play in the Final Four at 7 p.m. Friday against the winner of Lane and Walla Walla.

Sunday’s game was close at the half as Peninsula took a 33-26 lead into the break. The Pirates took control of the game early in the third quarter when Makena Patrick and Kimberlee Brown made back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly give the Pirates a 39-26 lead.

Umpqua was able to get the lead back down to nine at 51-42 with 8:30 left in the game, but the Pirates opened the gap right back up with baskets by Brown, Malia Garcia and a 3-pointer from Haley Ostrander for a commanding 58-42 lead with 6:05 left. That was Umpqua’s last gasp as the Riverhawks were never able to get closer than 12 points after that.

The Pirates had great balance. Brown hit 4-of-6 3-pointers for 16 points, Garcia had 14 points, Alecsis Smith 12, Patrick 10 and Ostrander eight. Neah Bay’s Ryana Moss, a few hours after her high school won its fourth straight girls state championship, hit a pair of 3-pointers and also scored eight.

Peninsula 71, Umpqua 57

Ump. 14 12 14 17 — 57

PC 13 20 18 20 — 71

Peninsula (71) — Brown 16, Garcia 14, Smith 12, Patrick 10, Moss 8, Ostrander 8, Fraser 3.

Opening Round Peninsula 70, Treasure Valley 66

Saturday’s game was not an easy win for the No. 1 seed Pirates, who appeared to be in deep trouble against the No. 4 seed Chukars midway through the second quarter.

Peninsula got down big at 31-17 with 5:30 left in the first half, as the Pirates started the game 1-for-9 from the free-throw line. The Pirates got two straight 3-pointers from Moss, who scored eight points in the second quarter and four straight free throws from Aspen Fraser to cut the lead to 35-33 at the halftime break.

Peninsula finally took the lead with a 3-pointer by Brown to make it 40-37 with 6:55 left in the third quarter.

Smith had a huge second half and took over the game after that. She scored two straight baskets and Brown hit another basket to make it 55-47 Peninsula with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. At this point of the game, the Pirates were in the midst of a 38-16 run over 19½ minutes and it appeared Peninsula had all the momentum and was in control.

Treasure Valley didn’t go down with a fight, however, suddenly waking up and scoring 19 points over the final six minutes of the game. The Chukars, who had shot just 3-for-20 from beyond the arc up to that point, hit a basket, then made two quick 3-pointers to tie the game at 55-55 with 4:33 left in the game.

The teams tied five separate times over the final four minutes as both squads kept hitting clutch shots, highlighted by a Patrick 3-pointer with 1:50 left to give the Pirates a 62-59 lead. The Chukars responded with a 3-pointer at 1:15 to tie the game again at 62-all.

With the score tied yet again at 64-64 with 19 seconds left in the game, Smith was double teamed and hit Patrick on a backdoor cut for a basket to take a 66-64 lead. Treasure Valley couldn’t get a score on its possession and was forced to foul. The Pirates struggled with their free throw shooting all game, but Patrick and Moss made four straight free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory. Patrick was 1-for-9 at the line before hitting her last two free throws.

Peninsula at one point was 10-for-24 with its free-throw shooting but finished the game 14-for-28.

Smith led the way with 25 points, 17 of them coming in the second half. She also had nine rebounds and four assists. Fraser had 15 points and Moss 10 points with four assists. Patrick finished with seven points, six in the second half, and 13 rebounds.

Peninsula 70, Treasure Valley 66

TVCC 22 13 9 22 —66

PC 15 18 14 23 — 70

Peninsula (70) — Smith 25, Fraser 15, Moss 10, Patrick 7, Brown 7, Garcia 4, Ostrander 2.