Sequim Gazette staff

Not a perfect beginning — but pretty close.

Peninsula College’s women’s basketball squad took two of three on a short road trip last week, helping them improve to a 6-1 start of the young season, their first defense of an NWAC championship.

The Pirates, ranked No. 1 in the first Northwest Athletic Association’s women’s basketball coaches’ poll, kept their torrid start going with a 96-91 win against Columbia Basin on Dec. 4. In a matchup of the conference’s past two champs, Peninsula had four starters in double figures, led by Cierra Moss, Zhara Laster and Imani Smith.

The next evening, PC got by seventh-ranked Walla Walla 72-65 on the Warriors’ court. Moss totaled 25 points and seven rebounds and Jenise McKnight had a big night with 14 points and seven rebounds. Laster added nine points, nine rebounds and five steals to the victory.

A struggle from the field finally sent Peninsula away with their first loss of the season. Wenatchee Valley jumped out to a 13-point first half lead and held on to a 77-64 win. The Pirates got 23 points and eight rebounds from Smith and another 14 points from Moss, but the rest of the Pirate crew had trouble getting on track. Peninsula shot just 3-of-20 from three-point range (15 percent) and 25-of-72 from the floor (35 percent). They also had five players in foul trouble.

The Knights had four players in double figures, led by the 16 points from Rebecca Stevenson and 15 from Treasure Farmer.

Next up for Peninsula is a 2 p.m. Dec. 11 match-up against Tacoma in the opening game of the Pierce Holiday Invitational, a three-day tournament in Lakewood.

The Pirates make their home debut at the 2015 North Region Women’s Crossover Tournament, an eight-team bracket, set for Dec. 17-19 in Port Angeles.