EVERETT — The resilient Peninsula College Pirates withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally and regained momentum down the stretch to salvage a 70-67 victory over Umpqua in the quarterfinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament Thursday.
Peninsula (24-5), the No. 1 seed from the North Region, advances to Saturday’s semifinals at 2 p.m. against Lower Columbia (24-9), which edged Spokane 64-61.
Peninsula, which fell behind 66-62 after leading by eight points entering the fourth quarter, regained control with a seven-point run for a 69-66 lead with 2:53 left.
The Pirates, who forced 27 turnovers, then turned in several key defensive stops in the closing minutes to keep alive their hopes of a second consecutive NWAC title.
“It’s such a testament to these girls’ character, their ability to withstand a run late in the fourth quarter, which they could have easily just folded because the momentum was not on our side,” Peninsula coach Alison Crumb said.
Umpqua (25-7), which trailed by as many as 13 points early in the second half, erased a 60-52 deficit after three quarters with a 14-2 run to open the final period.
Syd Clark hit a pair of free throws with 6:03 left to give Umpqua its first lead of the second half at 63-62. Anna Mumm, a 6-2 sophomore center who scored 18 of her 26 points after the break, stepped outside and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 66-62 with 5:04 left.
The Pirates responded with seven consecutive points, capped by Smith’s banked-in drive for a 69-66 lead with 2:53 remaining.
Clark hit the first of two free throws to cut the lead to 69-67 with 1:08 remaining. Mumm grabbed the offensive rebound after Clark missed the second and was fouled on the putback, but missed both free throws.
With 14 seconds left, the Riverhawks looked underneath to Mumm, but Daijahn Cooks tipped the pass away. Imani Smith came up with the loose ball and was fouled with 7.8 seconds left. She hit the second of two free throws to increase the lead to 70-67.
After a timeout, Umpqua inbounded the ball from the right side just across half court, but Smith stole the inbounds pass and was fouled on her way to the basket.
“I just saw it and I was going for it and wasn’t going to stop,” said Smith, who had four of the Pirates 16 steals.
“Once I committed to it, I couldn’t stop. Coach didn’t tell me to do it, but I just did it and it happened to work.”
She missed both free throws with 1.4 seconds left, but even though Mumm corralled the rebound, the Riverhawks were unable to get a shot off in time.
Smith had 25 points for the Pirates and Zhara Laster added 15 points and a team-high 14 rebounds.
Sawyer Kluge, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Bremerton, added 14 points for Umpqua and matched Mumm with 13 rebounds, but was just 5 of 18 from the field.
“We knew it was going to be a battle. We knew they weren’t going to stop, but the thing was, we weren’t going to stop, either,” Smith said.
The Pirates hurt themselves from the free-throw line, making just 8 of 19, including a paltry 4 of 13 in the second half.
“We shot 42 percent from the free-throw line. But, we won,” Crumb said.
“But, if we lose, you kind of say that’s why. We’ve got to be more confident at the line and not rely on our play as much. If we had put even a couple of those in, we’d have been sitting a lot more comfortably.”
Peninsula outscored the Riverhawks 15-4 to close the second quarter and forge a 39-32 halftime lead.
Kluge opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the top to pull Umpqua within 39-35, but the Riverhawks turned the ball over on their next four possessions.
The Pirates turned the miscues into eight quick points, including 3-pointers by Cierra Moss and Cherish Moss, to push the lead to 47-35 with 8 minutes left in the quarter.
Mumm, who was limited to just nine minutes in the first half after picking up her second foul, scored Umpqua’s next nine points as the Riverhawks cut the lead to 50-46.
The Pirates erased a 28-24 deficit with a 12-2 run late in the second quarter. Laster had nine points during the spurt, including a 3-pointer from the right corner that put Peninsula up 36-30 with 46 seconds left in the half.
Kluge, who had missed her first six shots, scored on pull-up jumper from the lane to cut the lead to 36-32, but Cierra Moss countered with a 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Pirates up 39-32 at the break.
Saturday’s semifinal matchup will feature three former Neah Bay teammates: Peninsula sophomores Cierra and Cherish Moss and Lower Columbia freshman Faye Chartraw.