Lady Vikes Split In NWAC Crossover

As the host school for the 2022 NWAC East Region Crossover, the Big Bend Lady Vikings Basketball squad split against two of the NWAC's best, falling on day one to perenial power Lane Community College 101-71, but rebounding in a thriller the following afternoon to hand South Puget Sound Community College only their second loss of the season by a final score of 86-84.

In Friday's (December 16th) contest, the Lady Vikings found themselves up against a buzz-saw, as the Lady Titans from Lane Community College, propeled by 52% shooting from the field and 16 offensive rebounds, took control of the contest early, and never looked back. Skylee Hopkins paced the offense for the Lady Vikings, finishing with 23 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, 5-9 from three-point range, 4-4 from the charity stripe, all while garnering 10 rebounds. Callie Tolman followed Hopkins' lead, scoring 14 points, while Macy Hellstern continued her dominance of multiple statistical categories, scoring 11 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out seven assists, and coming up with a team-high five steals. However, the difference in the win/loss column would be the strong defensive presence of the Lady Titans, as they held the Lady Vikings to 38% (25-66) shooting, while forcing 20 turnovers.

Saturday's game (December 17th) would turn out to be one of the most exciting of the season, as the back-and-forth contest failed to see either team gain control. Despite outscoring the Lady Clippers 23-11 in the third quarter to take the game's largest lead at 66-58, the Lady Clippers would come out on fire in the fourth quarter to regain the lead. The remainder of the contest saw neither team able to seperate themselves from the other, but clutch free-throws down the stretch would put the Lady Vikings on top at the final horn, 86-84. Callie Tollman's offense led the Lady Vikings all afternoon, as she tied her season high of 26 points on 8-12 shooting from the field, 4-6 from deep, and 6-7 from the free-throw line. Skylee Hopkins was clutch from the free-throw line down the stretch (10-11), to post 16 points. Hopkins was followed closely by Ambra Hacker's 15 points, and, in her first significant action of the season, freshman Dakota Killian finished with 10 points off the bench. For the victors, Tolman added to her stat-line with a team-high ten rebounds, while Macy Hellstern continued to spark the offense with a team-high ten assists.

The Lady Vikings will take a short break for the Christmas holidays, and be back in action December 28th-30th at the Skagit Valley Holiday Classic.