The EvCC Women’s Basketball team season ended in a 89-79 loss on Friday, March 9 in “The Elite 8”  game of the NWAC Championships to the Big Bend Vikings.

Coming off Thursday’s victory, EvCC Head Coach Chet Hovde used the same starting lineup used in the previous game. EvCC came out on top in the first quarter by a score of 21-17, hitting the ground running. Sydney Taggart led the team in the points with 8. Uju Chibougwu had 3 assists.

The Vikings would come back strong in the 2nd quarter, as Callie Gronning would lead the team in points scoring 10 and having two assists as the Trojans struggled to keep the lead. Tyra Lopez scored 7 points. With 6:06 to play  Chibuogwu left the game and didn’t play the rest of the quarter. Aloha Salem would score a vital 3-point shot for the Trojans with 4:07 left to play. It would be the last basket the Trojans would make that quarter.

Coming into halftime the Trojans led by a slim margin and Uju Chibuogwu led the Trojans with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Ashley Bierer led the team in assists with 4. While the Vikings leading point scorer Sunnie Martinez was not leading the team in points coming into the break , her teammate Callie Gronning  led the Vikings in points and assists scoring 15 points and 3 assists.

The game began to slip away for the Trojans in the 3rd Quarter. With 6:42 to play, Callie Gronning hit a 3-point jumpshot putting the Vikings ahead 52-50. The Vikings would score 28 points in the third quarter alone. It would give the Vikings a lead, not before Nakiya Edwards hit a 3-pointer from half court, bringing the Trojans within 7 points and the score 69-62.

The Trojans clawed their way back in the 4th quarter. The closest the Trojans came to tying the game was when Ashley Bierer scored a layup with 4:13 bringing the score 79-76. The hopes of the students and staff from EvCC that attended the game would be cut short 40 seconds later.  Uju Chibougwu picked up her 5th personal foul and was forced to sit the rest of the game. The next three minutes Big Bend scored 10 more points not before Tyra Lopez would score a layup and Alexis Biggerstaff would convert one free throw from the line. Biggerstaff would then recieve her 5th personal foul with only 28 seconds left to play becoming the second player in the 4th quarter to be ejected.  It was the final nail in the coffin for Everett.

Despite the loss, Bierer led the Trojans in assists with 6, Chibuogwu led the team in points, scoring 21 and had 10 rebounds.

With the season, over the Trojans look to an off season ahead of recruitment and planning for next season.