Eagle Women Open Playoffs with Home Game Wednesday

The Eagle women got what they wanted with a first-round home game in the California Community College NorCal Regionals basketball playoffs. They're scheduled to host Napa Valley Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Weed.

"We're tough to beat at home," said head coach Noelle Collier, whose team takes an 18-8 record and No. 15 seed into the postseason. One of their losses was a 79-72 defeat against No. 18 Napa Valley (18-10) at its tournament in early December.

Collier sees the Eagles matching up well with Napa Valley. She said neither team has one dominant player but "different girls who come out each game as the leading scorer. We're solid all the way across, and Napa is similar to that. Hopefully we shoot well."

The Siskiyous women have been a regular participant in the basketball playoffs for many years. They are one of five teams in a strong Golden Valley Conference which made it into an expanded regionals bracket that includes 24 teams this year. GVC champion Butte (24-3) is seeded No. 1, Feather River (18-7) is No. 9, Shasta (13-14) is No. 14, and Lassen (11-16) is No. 22.

An 83-75 loss at Feather River in their final GVC game left the Eagles in fourth place at 5-5. 

Collier said the loss at Feather River was disappointing as all losses are "when you feel like you can beat a team. But now we get a chance to come back home and have a better game."

Last year as the No. 16 seed, the Eagles lost their first-round playoff game when they were down two players and had to travel all the way to West Hills in Leemore, south of Fresno.

Part of their preparation for Wednesday's game has been watching film of Napa Valley, a team they played well against in three out of four quarters on December 2nd. The Eagles were outscored 23-13 in the third quarter and lost by 7 points after a 22-16 rally in the fourth.

Collier said the great crowd support the team gets in its home gym should help this time.

At Feather River last week, Hubbard scored 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting, while Wells scored 12, Hands 10, Bennett 10, Woodard 9, Hendrix 8, and freshman Karli Reynolds 5. The game was tied at half time 36-36 and tied after the third quarter 58-58. The Eagles were outscored in the fourth 25-17.

The Eagles had won 3 of their previous 4 before that game, including a big 69-54 win over Shasta at home on February 11. Typical of what they often do, the Eagles had six players score between 9 and 17 points in that game, which evened the score with Shasta after a 64-62 loss in their GVC opener in Redding.

For the season overall, Hubbard, Wells and Hands are top 10 among GVC players in points per game. Hubbard is seventh (12.0), Wells ninth (11.5), and Hands 10^th (11.3). Woodard is averaging 10.1 ppg, Bennett 8.9, Reynolds 8.3, Hendrix 8.0, and Teya Amidei 5.2.

Hubbard has had some double-double games this season for points and rebounds. She is fourth among GVC players with 8.2 rebounds per game, first in assists (137 and 5.3 per game), third in free throws made (73), fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (34.5), fifth in free throw shooting percentage (73.7), and sixth in steals (46).

Wells leads the team and is eighth among GVC players in 3-point baskets (49), sixth in assists (86), and seventh in steals (45).

Bennett has the best free throw percentage among GVC players (85.7) and is fifth in free throws made (66).

Woodard is ninth in rebounds per game (6.7) and 6^th in assist to turnover ratio (1.6).

Hands is seventh in field goals (107), ninth in 3-point percentage (30.1), 10^th in 3-pointers made (41), and 10^th in assists (61).

Hendrix is second in field goal percentage (51.2) and offensive rebounds (107), and third in total rebounds (218) and rebounds per game (8.4).

The Eagles hope to put all those strengths together for a victory in Wednesday's playoff opener, which would get them within one win of their goal of 20 for the season. To get to 20, they would need to add a win on Saturday at No. 2 Santa Rosa (26-2), a team that Collier said has come back strong after a couple of down seasons.

By Steve Gerace