The Bellevue College Bulldogs women’s basketball team traveled to Bremerton to open league play against the Olympic Rangers on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Coming off their worst performance of the year on the road at Blue Mountain, the Bulldogs were looking to get back on track and start off league play with a win. In the first half, the Bulldogs came out clearly ready to battle, dominating play at both ends of the court, and controlling the tempo for the entire half. Bellevue was focused defensively and were able to hold the Rangers to only ten points in the first half, leaving the court with a half-time lead of 36-10. “We haven’t dominated a team at the defensive end like that all year,” said Coach
Brent Hermanson. “It was nice to see us sharply focused on defense, particularly after playing almost no defense at Blue Mountain.”
In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to pour it on at both ends of the floor, shooting nearly 67% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line, scorching the Rangers for 47 points, while holding their opponent to only 22. In the end the Bulldogs would leave Bremerton with a 51-point victory 83-32 to start league play 1-0 and improve their record to 9-3 overall. “It’s always nice to win road games during league play. You expect to take care of your home court, so it’s important that we increase our focus and really implement our game plan on the road,” said Hermanson. The Bulldogs were able to hold the Rangers to 20.8% shooting for the game, while shooting 50.8% themselves. TyShana Burgess led the Bulldogs’ scoring with 26 points, with sophomore Kelsey Sparks contributing 17.
The Bulldogs have an early bye this year and did not play Saturday, Jan. 7. Next on the schedule is the first home game of the league season when Bellevue hosts North Division rival Skagit Valley (2-0, 7-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 11, with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
For their final pre-season match, the Bulldogs women’s basketball team traveled to Pendleton, Oregon, to take on the Blue Mountain Timberwolves on Dec. 30. The game started out poorly for the Bulldogs, “We simply couldn’t hit anything,” said Coach Brent Hermanson. The Bulldogs shot a miserable 26.7% from the field on 8/30, going 0/6 from behind the arc and 4/8 from the free throw line. “I’ve seen some bad shooting before, but this might have been our worst in the five years I’ve been coaching at Bellevue,” commented Hermanson. To make matters worse, the Bulldogs couldn’t get any stops defensively, as the Timberwolves shot 55.2% from the field, 42.9% from beyond the arc and 100% from the line. The Bulldogs found themselves down at the half 39-20.
In the second half, Bellevue played better offensively putting up 46 points to finish with 66 for the game, but, unfortunately the defensive issues continued in the second half, allowing Blue Mountain to score 47. The Bulldogs pulled to within 12 on four separate occasions but couldn’t get the critical stops necessary to get the game in reach. “We talk about defense and work on defense every day, hopefully now the team realizes how important it is to winning consistently, particularly on the road,” said Hermanson. He noted further that Bellevue had more opportunities offensively, shot more free throws than Blue Mountain – which is rare on the road – and won the turn-over battle, but still lost by 20. The Bulldogs came away with an 86-66 loss, for a long ride home.
Bellevue women finish pre-season with a record of 8-3, and head into league play with work to do. They take to the road Wednesday, Jan. 4, and head to Bremerton to play North region rival Olympic College (0-7), game time 5 p.m.
Last Updated November 1, 2013
