A season that saw Peninsula College’s women rebound from a forgettable start to qualify for the NWAC tournament ended last week in a loss to a conference powerhouse.

No. 1-ranked Umpqua dominated the Pirates 83-62 in the first round of the NWAC tourney in Everett on March 8.

Peninsula (8-17) got 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Ashlynn Sharp, while teammate Jamellia Clark added 14 points and six rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to knock off Umpqua’s Riverhawks (30-1).

Umpqua jumped out to a 28-13 lead after one quarter and 54-33 lead by halftime.

Dajanay Powell had 26 points and 14 rebounds in just 21 minutes and Jordan Stotler added 21 points, six assists and eight blocks for Umpqua, who went on to beat Columbia Basin on March 9 and will play Bellevue in an NWAC semifinal on March 17.

“I think we played really scrappy,” Peninsula coach Ali Crumb said. “We were outmatched for sure, they are big at multiple positions, and we couldn’t get over the hump against them. They’ve been the No. 1 ranked team all year and we expected to have our work cut out for us, and I’m proud of our girls for hanging tight and playing the whole 40 minutes.”

PC’s Jocelyn Moore had 10 points off the bench — one point off a season high — while Payton Caci matched a season-high with 10 points, also off the bench.

“We got 20 points off the bench which was awesome,” Crumb said. “Payton shot the ball well and did some good things and Jocelyn did some good things inside and that’s good for us confidence-wise because they are both freshman.”

Peninsula started off the season 2-13 before closing the season on a four-game win streak to earn a postseason berth.

“We were kind of hopeless at some stages of this season,” Crumb said. “We fought through it, the girls bought in, and I’m proud of them.”

Postseason honors

Peninsula’s Ashlynn Sharp was named Northern Region Freshman of the Year and earned a place on the All-Region First Team and the All-Region Defensive Team.

Sharp posted a team-high 16.4 points per game along with 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals.

Pirates sophomore Jamellia Clark earned second-team honors. Clark averaged 14.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals for Peninsula.

Bellevue sophomore Brenda Akoto was picked as MVP, and Bellevue’s Mel Stubblefield was selected Coach of the Year.

Peninsula Daily News reporter Michael Carman contributed to this report.