PASCO, Wash. – The Walla Walla Warriors led nearly start to finish to defeat Lower Columbia 71-54 to advance to the Final 4 of the NWAC Women's Basketball Championship at Columbia Basin College.
The Warriors (25-7) got out to an early lead in the first quarter and never looked back, taking a 22-7 advantage after the first quarter and 44-20 at halftime over the Red Devils.
Brielle Magnuson continued to perform well in the tournament with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Malia Cortes came off the bench to score 18 points, knocking down 6-of-8 three-point shots. Dylan Lovett had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Red Devils struggled to string points together, especially during the first half when they went 9-for-27 overall and 1-for-7 from behind the arc. After an early 4-0 lead, they were unable to move the deficit to single digits as the Warriors continued to stack up points.
Bailee Larson led LCC with 15 points in her final game as a Red Devil. Freshman
Karlee VonMoos had eight points and six rebounds.
The Warriors advance to the NWAC Final 4, where they will take on Umpqua on March 16 at 5 p.m. at Columbia Basin College.
In the Sweet 16 on Friday, the Devils avoided a first round upset, holding off Bellevue 72-63.
Ending the night with an exciting finish, the Red Devils and Bulldogs entered the fourth quarter tied 50-50 after a nice run by Bellevue in the third. LCC stepped up when it mattered most, however, as
Reigha Niemeyer scored 16 of her 25 total points in the final 10 minutes. Niemeyer had a big four-point play late in the fourth that helped propel the Red Devils to the victory.
The West Region champion Red Devils had a tough stretch over 10 minutes of play between the third and fourth quarters where they were unable to connect on a single field goal. Then Niemeyer took over. She connected on five three pointers in the contest, adding six steals defensively.
Both teams struggled with foul trouble as there were a combined 48 personal fouls in the game. The Bulldogs had four players with four fouls while LCC had two players foul out including regular season leading scorer
Bailee Larson. Niemeyer along with
Morgan Hamilton (12 points) and
Kayla Kasubuchi (nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists) stepped up in her absence. Karlee Vonmoos also had six points and 13 boards.
The Red Devils had another great season with plenty of highlights and accolades including the West Region championship and an Elite 8 appearance. There were eight freshman on the squad which bodes well for 2024-25.
