Tears streamed down HSU point guard Paige Peterson’s face as she came out of Saturday’s conference championship game with 25 seconds left and her team up 30 points.
“All I ever wanted in my life was to go to a great college and play basketball for a winning team,” said Peterson.
The host Lumberjacks beat the Chico State Wildcats 85-55 to claim the CCAA championship. The feat earns them a spot in next week’s NCAA Division II West Region tournament in Seattle and puts them six wins away from a national championship.
The celebration was brief for head coach Joddie Gleason. The next day she made travel arrangements for the West Region Tournament.
“We’ll rest in April,” she said with a grin.
After losing six of their last eight regular-season games, the odds of the Lumberjacks winning the conference championship and extending their season seemed slim. But wins against CSU Monterrey Bay on Tuesday, UC San Diego on Friday and Chico State in the championship put all doubts to rest.
“We did everything we could to get this win,” said Peterson. “The losing streak hurt our hearts, but we knew what we needed to do, and we worked so hard to do it.”
Center Brittney Taylor, a senior, agreed. All of the losses built character, said Taylor. Now, the team is playing with confidence, which was not the case two weeks ago.
All four of the team’s seniors said they were not ready for their careers to end. It showed on the court throughout the tournament. HSU made 38 3-pointers out of the 72 they shot.
Seniors Andrea Bobic, Luiza Osborne, Paige Peterson and Brittney Taylor accounted for 26 of them.
CSU Monterrey, UC San Diego and Chico State’s defenses forced the Lumberjacks to fight for every basket in the tournament. But, in the championship’s second half, the Lumberjacks’ hard work paid off. With only a four-point lead, they went on a 24-4 run and outscored Chico State 52-26 in the half.
Peterson ran the show by dishing out 11 assists, while tournament MVP Andrea Bobic knocked down all but one of her shots. Taylor dominated the post by scoring 23 points, blocking four shots and snatching six rebounds. Osborne, as usual, was all over the court snatching rebounds, starting fast breaks and hitting timely shots.
The arena erupted every time the Lumberjacks scored.
When the crowd gets that loud, sometimes players can lose focus. But Bobic, who finished with seven 3-pointers (one short of a conference record) and 25 points, said HSU kept its composure. “That was a ridiculous second half,” said Bobic. “I hope we take the momentum into next week. We’re playing our best ball.”
Although the Lumberjacks hope to continue their run for a National Championship, last Saturday’s win was an important accomplishment for them. In the words of Luiza Osborne, “Good Lord, that was amazing.”
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