A Red Hot Start to the Season

In its first home game of the season, the Mt. Hood women’s basketball team came out on top, 69-62, in an intense game on Nov. 29 against the Pacific University junior varsity squad.

Pacific had a fierce team that played hard and well together; the Saints just played harder that night.

The Saints started out building a great lead of 20-plus points in the first half of the game, which ended 44-21 in their favor.

Even with that large gap, the Pacific players never let their foot off the gas, keeping pressure on the Mt. Hood shooters and their defense. The Saints returned the energy by pushing even harder to maintain the lead – with sophomore guard Autumn Baumgartner scoring a game-high 32 points.

It was amazing to see the Saints’ lineup play well and response tactically to an aggressive team. Every time the ball was up for grabs the Saints fought like dogs to claim the ball and position. While near the end the gap narrowed to as little as seven points and the steam never let up, the Saints claimed victory and were top dogs for the night.

It was great witness such passion and sportsmanship in the first home game of the season, and I cannot wait to see more from this roster and Head Coach Tony Lalonde, in his first year at Mt. Hood.

Photos by Ken Perez