The Highline women’s basketball team went 1-1 and aim for a sophomore night victory to force an NWAC Play-In Game for the postseason.

The winds have turned in the Lady T-Birds’ favor after a much needed win over Tacoma, 39-57, last Wednesday and subsequently back-to-back losses for No. 4 Pierce. This has brought about an NWAC Play-In Game which occurs when two teams in a division have identical conference records and both are in postseason contention. The winner will earn a spot in the championship tournament.

Green River, Lower Columbia, and South Puget Sound all clinched the first, second, and third postseason spots respectively after last week’s competition. Now, one spot remains. 

Last Wednesday, the Highline women showed out on their home court, dishing out 15 assists, converting 28 points off of turnovers, and collecting a 30-6 point advantage in the paint against Tacoma.

The action started right away with six lead changes in the first quarter and one in the second quarter as Tacoma took control going into halftime, 24-20. Highline shots didn’t sink well in the second quarter with 3-11 field goal shooting compared to 6-13 shooting from opponent’s.

In the third, Highline caught momentum as they sank 20 points led by Aulani Benitez with six points and five points apiece from Hi’ilani Arai and Alexis Willis. Highline stole the lead for good after a three pointer and a layup from Arai at 1:53 left.

The Lady T-Birds progressively shot better with 7-12 inside as Tacoma went cold with just 1-13 field goal shooting. Highline amassed their largest lead of 18 points with two minutes left in the game. 

Highline closed out the match 57-39.

Freshman Aulani Benitez tallied 14 points on 5-9 field shooting. Savannah Arneach made 12 points on 4-9 shooting and seven rebounds.

Later in the week, Highline traveled down south to play No. 2 Lower Columbia. The Lady T-Birds fell to the Devils, 66-48, after the opponents converted 26 Highline turnovers into 18 points inside.

Right after the tipoff, Highline took control early with a 6-0 lead, prompting a Lower Columbia timeout at 14:50. This was the largest lead the Lady T-Birds held before the Devils started to warm up and turn up the heat. Over the span of 10 minutes, Lower Columbia’s Paige Mace sank 12 points to help in an 18-5 scoring run for the home team. 

The Devils jogged off the court and into the locker room on a 35-16 lead over Highline.

In the second half, Highline gained some speed with 32 points compared to 16 from the first half. The Devils remain consistent with 31 points for the second, allowing them to cement their early lead through the end of the game.

Lower Columbia closed out the match 66-48.

Devil Paige Mace was the standout for the night with 27 points on 10-14 field goal shooting and four treys. 

Freshman Mahine Bergeson and Sophomore Savannah Arneach chipped in 11 points each for Highline. Arneach also tallied a double-double performance by snagging 13 rebounds.

Despite a Highline loss, the team is still in the running for the postseason with a 4-7 conference record because Pierce, with a 5-7 record, have no scheduled games left and Highline has one more. 

***Editor’s note: Since the original publication of this article, on Wednesday, March 1, the women defeated No. 6 Grays Harbor at Highline’s sophomore night and clinched an overtime win, 65-60.

After the match, the women’s basketball program honored sophomores Savannah Arneach and Hi’ilani Arai in their tenure as Thunderbird student athletes. 

The win over the Chockers sets the Lady T-Birds up to challenge Pierce on Saturday with their playoff spot on the line. If you’d like to support the Highline women, come to the ThunderDome at 12 p.m. to cheer them on in an all-or-nothing match for the postseason tournament.

If Highline wins, they solidify their spot in the 2023 NWAC Women’s Championships, which begins on March 8 for the sweet sixteen bracket.