With the basketball season heading into conference play, the Clipper Women’s Basketball team has seen it’s fair share of ups and downs. With a record of 11-5, the team is looking sharp going into their West Region matchups, sitting on a seven-game winning streak and looking to extend that good run of play. But this great record didn’t come easy as the team had to battle through a tough stretch in the middle of the preseason.
Clipper WBB was flying high at the start of the season. They were winners of four straight games, won their first two games by over 35 points, and broke into the NWAC Top 10 rankings. It seemed like there was no stopping the Clips. But the team got a hard reality check in the form of five consecutive losses to start off December.
After dropping a game to Olympic, the team headed out east on a road trip that saw them drop games to Spokane and, newest member of the NJCAA, North Idaho. Then came two more losses against Top 10-ranked opposition at the NWAC Crossover before they were to get off the schneid with a victory against Yakima.
Head Coach Darah Vining spoke about how the team’s “non-negotiables” helped them during the tough stretch of their season so far. “We’re big on our culture and our non-negotiables. We have four non-negotiables that we talk about (Listen and Apply, Respect, Communicate, and Effort),” mentioned Coach Vining. “Right now for us, as we are midseason, we’re learning how to deal with the highs and lows and staying as consistent as possible. If we can stick to those non-negotiables, stay consistent, and stay a team, the sky is the limit.”
When Coach Vining said that the sky is the limit when the team can stay consistent, she was not lying. What started with a win against Yakima to conclude the NWAC Crossover would balloon into a seven-game winning streak as the women’s team was able to buckle down and get clutch wins against tough opposition. During this hot streak, the Clippers defeated two Top 10 teams in Clark and Big Bend and were able to record blowout wins against Whatcom, Everett, and Bellevue — winning each game by over 30 points.
A big contributor to the impressive streak has been the Clippers’ frontcourt trio of Monroe Mastro, Jaynee Tanner, and Taylor Teeple. Every member of the starting frontcourt is averaging over 14 points a game, not to mention that Tanner and Teeple are averaging nine or more rebounds a game as well.
“It’s been really fun this year […] figuring out the whole dynamic of the team and where I fit in,” said Freshman Forward/Center Jaynee Tanner about the season so far. “As a leader of the team, I feel it’s a big role that I have to fit into. The dynamic of the team is finally starting to flow together going into conference, so I’m really excited. Honestly, it’s just hard work, I feel like I’m a really hard worker and my whole team is too, so it’s fun to play with other people that are willing to work hard.”