Lady Wolves Earn First Every Conference Win
Morgan Doyle, Sports Information Assistant
College Place, Wash. Women's Basketball took on the Multnomah Lions tonight and after an intense game came away with their first conference win of the season.
Tiara Chinn had the first points of the game for the Lions, but Multnomah was not able to keep the lead for long. With 6 minutes left in the game, Alyssa Blankenship made a three-pointer for the Wolves, tying the game at 5-5. Walla Walla stole the lead with a layup from Sarah Halversen. Michaela Garcia and Alyssa Blankenship each had 5 points for the Wolves, and Walla Walla entered the second quarter up 18-9.
The Lions had the first points in the second quarter with a jumper from Tiara Chinn, but Kai Chamberlain quickly followed with a jump shot. From there the Wolves maintained a 7-point lead with a three from Garcia followed by back to back layups from Blankenship. The Wolves went into halftime up 32-27.
Walla Walla started off the third quarter strong with back to back baskets from Garcia and Carolina Montes with a three, building an 8-point lead 37-29. George had 5 points in a row for the Lions, cutting it to a 3 point game with the Wolves still in the lead 37-34. Blankenship had a three with 5 minutes left in the quarter and Kraatz matched her, keeping it a tight 3-point game. With 30 seconds left the score was 45-41 Wolves, and a layup from Rachelle Tau brought the score uncomfortably close 45-43. With 5 seconds left Blankenship drained a three for the Walla Walla, giving the team a 5-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Walla Walla kept their fans on the edge of their seat in the fourth quarter with an intense battle against the Lions. With four minutes left a layup from George gave the lead to Multnomah and the Wolves were down 54-55. Another three from Montes followed by a jumper from Halversen put the Wolves back on top, 59-55. George brought it to a two-point game with 2 free throws, and Halversen followed right after with a corner three for the Wolves. Walla Walla was up 62-57 with 1 minute left, but George quickly closed that gap with a three from above the circle. Tau hit a layup at the buzzer as she was fouled but was unable to hit the game-tying free throw, resulting in the Wolves first-ever conference victory.
The Wolves had their first home conference win tonight in 50 games. Walla Walla was led by Alyssa Blankenship with 15 points and 8 rebounds, and Carolina Montes with 13 points, and Sarah Halversen with 12 points and 17 rebounds.