Colleges: YVCC women advance to semis
March 5, 2012 by YH-R Sports
KENNEWICK — Yakima Valley’s trio of Kaylah Gonzales, Brittney Newcomb and Simone Jordan helped push the Yaks past second-ranked Lane 73-57 in the NWAACC Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon in the Toyota Center.
The Yaks, ranked fifth in the final poll of the regular season, outshot the Titans 43 percent to 34 percent for the game. Yakima Valley hit 29 percent of its 3-point attempts (10 for 34), while Lane was successful from beyond the arc on only 14 percent (3 for 21) of its attempts.
The action started early for the Yaks, who scored the first 14 points of the game and 20 of the first 22.
“We came out on fire,” coach Cody Butler said.
Butler also had particular praise for Gonzales.
“Kaylah made the big shots to keep us going,” Butler said.
Gonzales led the Yaks with 21 points and was 5 for 12 on 3-pointers.
Newcomb had 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Jordan scored 16 points for the Yaks (22-6).
Megan Shields led Lane (24-5) with 20 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.
One weak spot in the victory for the Yaks was free-throw shooting. Yakima Valley hit 5 of its 15 attempts from the line.
“Sometimes you lose focus when the adrenaline gets flowing,” Butler said of the struggles.
Yakima Valley will face East Region rival Walla Walla in tonight’s semifinal at 8 in the Toyota Center.
The pairing is a rematch of the two most-recent NWAACC championship games.
YVCC is 1-2 against Walla Walla this season.
Walla Walla earned a 72-68 overtime victory against Skagit Valley on Sunday.
In the other semifinal, Columbia Basin will face Chemeketa today at 6 p.m.
YAKIMA VALLEY — Brittney Newcomb 5-11 2-2 14, A. Gonzales 0-1 0-0 0, Brewster 3-4 0-1 6, Cox 4-6 0-2 8, Swetzof 0-5 0-0 0, Kaylah Gonzales 7-15 2-3 21, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Lekson 0-5 1-2 1, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Simone Jordan 7-14 0-2 16, Smythe 0-1 0-0 0, Zapien 3-5 0-3 7. Totals 29-67 5-15 73.
LANE — Husk 0-1 0-0 0, Rodriguez 0-4 0-0 0, Moore 2-4 0-0 6, J. Wilcox 0-0 0-0 0, Kersey Wilcox 2-15 6-6 11, Lovelady 0-0 0-0 0, Schmidt 2-11 0-1 4, Levings 0-8 0-0 0, Tillman 1-1 1-2 3, Megan Shields 9-11 2-4 20, Chanco 1-3 1-2 3, Courtney Walchli 5-7 0-1 10, Blackburn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 10-16 57.
Halftime — YVCC 39, Lane 29. 3-point goals — YVCC 10-34 (K. Gonzales 5-12, Jordan 2-4, Newcomb 2-8, Zapien 1-2, Brewster 0-1, Lekson 0-3, Swetzof 0-4), Lane 3-21 (Moore 2-3, K. Wilcox 1-5, Husk 0-1 Levings 0-5, Schmidt 0-7). Fouled out — Shields. Rebounds — YVCC 46 (Newcomb 12), Lane 47 (Shields 9). Assists — YVCC 18 (Newcomb 6), Lane 12 (K. Wilcox 5). Turnovers — YVCC 13, Lane 16. Total fouls — YVCC 18, Lane 16.
Filed under All, YVCC Basketball (W)
