ARCATA, Calif. – Humboldt State showed its grit and determination in Saturday's finale to the West Region Challenge. The Lumberjacks (1-1) closed out a tight game with Western Washington (1-1), 69-65 to even its record early in the season.
"Hopefully this game will really set the example to the team about how we need to play, and how we need to show up each day with focus and urgency," said Head Coach
Joddie Gleason. "Every game is huge, and every game is something that we need to show up for. I think we took better shots today, whereas yesterday we got impatient. We executed our action and got good looks out of our action."
Despite being down seven points midway through the opening quarter, there was no sign of panic. The Jacks went on a 13-4 run, including seven unanswered to end the period with the two-point advantage, 18-16.
In a game that featured nine lead changes, both teams knew that the opening session was a preview of things to come. Back-and-fourth action tied the game for the fourth time in the second quarter alone, at 29-29. It was at that point that the Jacks once again were the better of the two teams at closing out the quarter. The Green and Gold scored seven unanswered, beginning with one of five made 3s by All-Tournament selection
Kiana Brown, to lead 36-29 at intermission. The sophomore finished with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The halftime break did not slow down HSU.
Neika Puryear pushed the lead to a game-high 10 points less than two minutes into the new half. Puryear was perfect from behind the arc and finished with nine points in her first start of the season. Western Washington did win the third quarter overall, and cut its deficit to six points heading into the final period.
Baskets by
Teylor McMiller and
Nyaa Davis pushed the lead back up to double-digits on the Jacks' opening two possessions of the fourth. After a pair of Viking jumpers brought the difference back down to six, Humboldt again responded with a 4-0 run by
Amanda Kunst. The senior totaled 12 points and corralled seven boards on the day.
The Jacks responded after shooting 1-for-11 from long distance in the opener, with an 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) display from behind the arc on Saturday.
Western Washington's All-Tournament selection, Taylor Peacocke, cut the lead down to four with two of her team-high 20 points, with 5:08 remaining in the game. Although it fluttered around four points the remainder of the game, the Jacks never let it dip any lower, and closed out the game with the victory, 69-65.
"In this conference it is all about having a short memory, and we have to learn from games and move on," said Gleason. "I think our team responded today. These two weeks are such a tough stretch for our schedule. I just believe in playing tough schools and playing a tough schedule. It's our philosophy to get ourselves prepared and ready to compete for the CCAA championship."
The West Region Challenge All-Tournament team was announced at the conclusion of the game and included Brown, Peacocke, Megan Lee from Fresno Pacific, and Courtney Hollander and Jordan McPhee from Seattle Pacific. McPhee walked away with MVP honors after leading the Falcons to two wins in the tournament.
The Jacks will hit the road next, not returning to Lumberjack Arena until conference play in December. The five-match road swing begins with a trip to Southern California to face Hope International on Nov. 19 and California Baptist on Nov. 21.
