Closing in on the final weeks of the season, the Bellevue College women’s basketball team looked to continue their winning streak in the North division. The Bulldogs entered the week standing at 10-1 in league, and 18-4 overall, tied atop the division with the Skagit Valley Cardinals. Bellevue took to the road for two away games, to face Whatcom on Wednesday, Feb. 15, followed by a game against Edmonds on Saturday.
First up for the Bulldogs, as they hoped to keep alive their nine-game winning streak, were the Whatcom Orcas in Bellingham. Head Coach Brent Hermanson was unable to make the trip with the team, so it was up to second-year assistant coach Angela Jensen to lead the troops. Unfortunately, Bellevue got off to a rough start, shooting poorly from the field and from behind the arc, and went in at the half trailing 27-20.
In the second half, Coach Jensen rallied the team and the Bulldogs fought their way back into the game, relying heavily on their defense to keep it close. Bellevue outscored Whatcom 30-14 in the second half and walked away with a 50-41 win, the Bulldogs’ 10th consecutive victory. For Bellevue, Kelsey Sparks led the scoring with 18 points, and Coach Jensen added that “it was the defense of Jordyn Ohrt and Sanda Milovic in particular that carried us through. Whatcom is a tough place to get a win, we always seem to have low scoring close games at Whatcom, and this one was obviously no exception.”
On Saturday, Bellevue headed to Edmonds to take on the Tritons who are winless on the season at 0-13, 0-21. The Bulldogs started the game flat, and really didn’t get things going? at all. “It’s tough to get up for a game when the last time you played a team the final score was 86-39, and now you’re facing them the second time and they only have five players,” said Hermanson. “That being said, we have to play the team in front of us and respect the game, ourselves and our opponent.” The Bulldogs took an early lead and closed the half with a 33-20 advantage. In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to go through the motions, but it was enough in the end to walk away with a 22-point victory 56-34. “I wasn’t particularly thrilled with our effort or our execution,” said Hermanson, “but in the end we did what we set out to do, win another league game.” With the win, Bellevue continues to maintain the longest active win streak in the NWAACC at 11 games, and stay tied atop the North Division at 12-1. The Bulldogs also were able to get their 20th win of the season, 12-1 in league play 20-4 overall, one of only four teams at this point in the season with 20 wins.
Entering the final week of the regular season, the Bulldogs will face three tough teams: on Monday, Feb. 20, Bellevue hosts the Everett Trojans (5-8, 6-15) at 5:30 p.m.; then, on Wednesday, the Shoreline Dolphins (4-10, 10-13) come to Bellevue for another 5:30 p.m. tip-off, and finally the Bulldogs will travel to Port Angeles to take on the Peninsula Pirates (9-4, 15-8) at 5:00 p.m.
Last Updated November 1, 2013
