Saints leave empty-handed, lose third straight

The Mt. Hood women’s basketball team traveled to Portland Community College on Wednesday night, looking to end a two-game skid, while Portland was trying to put two wins in a row together.

“We have nothing to lose, so there is no pressure on us,” Saints head coach Tyler Rose had said before the game.

Unfortunately, the Panthers players brought enough pressure on the PCC home court to pound the Saints, 93-65.

The loss gave Mt Hood a 5-19 overall record, 1-9 in the South Region. PCC is now 12-11 overall and 5-4 in the South.

Portland’s sophomore guard, Diamond Bolden, was a force from the beginning of the game. Mt. Hood found itself down by nine points with 11:45 to play in the first half. Bolden is one of the best players in the NWAC, and her full talents were on display. Mt Hood simply had no answer, as she finished with 31 points, five rebounds, eight assists and a whopping six steals.

The Saints were down 48-31 at halftime. Freshman forward Delanee Martin, who had another terrific game for Mt Hood, was on fire from downtown. She would end up hitting 5-of-9 shots from three-point land for the night, to lead the Saints with 19 points. Sophomore center Marley Yates had 13 points, a quiet game by her standards.

At the 15-minute mark of the second half, it seemed to unravel for Mt Hood. Portland’s shots were falling and the Panthers started trapping Mt. Hood on defense. PCC would ultimately outrebound Mt Hood by 16, and record 13 fewer turnovers than the Saints.

All five of Portland’s starters scored in double figures.

“We needed to keep them out of the middle of the floor, that’s where they are their deadliest,” Rose said. “If we get rattled, it goes south quickly.”

The defeat followed another last Saturday, when the Saints hosted Lane Community College.

Lane was taking the ball inside and drawing quick fouls on Mt. Hood’s front court players.

“We had to go to a four-guard offense at times, because of fouls. Our shot selection and being intimidated by their size really hurt us,” Rose said. Lane went on to win, 77-52.

“Our minds were elsewhere,” Rose said. “We had our moments, but there just wasn’t enough of them.”

Mt. Hood was again led by Martin, who had 17 points, with three three-pointers. Yates had a quiet game with six points. Rose gave credit to Lane’s defense and size. “We couldn’t get Marley the ball in the right places at the right time. Lane did a good job of containing her and keeping her off the glass,” he said.

Lane was led by Jordan Kimbrough, who scored 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.