{"id":10089,"date":"2016-12-12T12:42:08","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T20:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/?p=10089"},"modified":"2016-12-12T12:55:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T20:55:03","slug":"bc-women-topple-top-ranked-lane-en-route-to-pierce-tourney-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/2016\/12\/12\/bc-women-topple-top-ranked-lane-en-route-to-pierce-tourney-title\/","title":{"rendered":"BC Women Topple Top-Ranked Lane En Route To Pierce Tourney Title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brenda<\/a>
Brenda Akoto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Led by tournament MVP Brenda Akoto, the BC women’s basketball team<\/a> posted three consecutive victories over the weekend to win the Pierce Tournament at Lakewood, Wash., including a 57-44 upset of top-ranked and previously unbeaten Lane in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs (5-2) opened with a 67-64 victory over Wenatachee Valley<\/a> on Friday, Dec. 9 and then upended defending NWAC champion Lane 57-44<\/a> on Saturday. Against Clackamas in the title game on Sunday, BC built a 34-16 halftime lead en route to a 58-43 victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the opener against Wenatchee Valley, the Bulldogs overcame a 16-9 deficit after one quarter. BC cut the deficit to 34-30 at the half and then led 49-46 entering the final period. Brenda Akoto<\/a>, a 6-foot freshman forward, had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore swing player Erin Hamilton<\/a> added 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, along with 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Molly Dixon<\/a> added 10 points, along with four assists and three steals, and freshman Duaneah Wheeler<\/a> also had 10 points.<\/p>\n

Lane, ranked No. 1 in the Under Armour Coaches Poll for Dec. 9<\/a>, brought a 7-0 mark into the semifinals after opening the tournament with a 90-80 victory over Columbia Basin. But the Bulldogs, who did not receive a single vote in the first poll, clamped down defensively on the high-scoring Titans, who had scored 80 or more points in four of their first seven victories.<\/p>\n

\"Erin<\/a>
Erin Hamilton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BC led 14-9 after one quarter and stretched it to 35-21 at the half. The Bulldogs maintained the lead after the break, taking a 47-32 lead into the final quarter. The Bulldogs held Lane to 31 percent shooting on 18-of-58, including just 2 of 15 from beyond the arc. Led by Brenda Akoto’s 13 rebounds, the Bulldogs also enjoyed a 54-37 advantage on the boards.<\/p>\n

Melinda Akoto<\/a>, also a 6-foot freshman forward and Brenda’s twin sister, led a balanced attack with 13 points, along with seven rebounds. Freshman guard Sierra Cole<\/a> added 12 points and Hamilton, also a first-team all-tourney pick<\/a>, added 11 points, along with eight rebounds and seven assists.<\/p>\n

In the championship game against Clackamas, the Bulldogs took their defense up yet another notch. BC limited the Cougars to 22 percent from the field (15-of-68), including a paltry 4-of-30 from three-point range.<\/p>\n

Brenda Akoto had 18 points, making 7 of 9 shots, and a game-high nine rebounds. Dixon added 13 points, including 3 of 6 beyond the arc. Hamilton added 10 points.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs return to action in the Portland Crossover, Dec. 16-18. BC opens against Portland CC on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m., then faces Walla Walla on Saturday at noon, and closes against Lower Columbia on Sunday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Led by tournament MVP Brenda Akoto, the BC women’s basketball team posted three consecutive victories over the weekend to win the Pierce Tournament at Lakewood, Wash., including a 57-44 upset of top-ranked and previously unbeaten Lane in the semifinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-womens-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10089"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10104,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions\/10104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}