WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Walla Walla Women's Basketball team came on strong in the second half to earn a 63-53 victory over Evergreen State in a Cascade Conference game at Walla Walla Community College on Saturday.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak and improved the Wolves' record to 5-15 overall and 2-12 in CCC action.

"Great bounce back win for us," Walla Walla coach Tony Nakashima said. "We started out strong and our defense in the second half was pretty good."

Freshman Jaylo Bello led Walla Walla with 20 points and connected on five 3-pointers. Chariah Daniels recorded a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds and added three steals. Allison Haslam finished with 12 points.

The Wolves' defense came on strong in the second half. After Evergreen State shot better than 50% in the first half, the Geoducks were only able to convert on 7-of-35 (20%) in the second half. Walla Walla forced 17 turnovers and had 10 steals.

Sydney VanNess led Evergreen State with 14 points and Mikail Montez added 12 points. Jalyn Sackrider had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The loss dropped the Geoducks' record to 3-12 overall and 3-10 in CCC play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Evergreen State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Bello hit her first three of the game for the Wolves. Bello made another 3 just 26 seconds later to give WWU its first lead and Mireyah Lopez extended the lead with a layup. The two teams traded buckets until the game was tied 13-13. 

The Geoducks pushed their lead to four with a layup by Montez and a jumper by Sydney Vanness. Jordan Green-Wallace connected from beyond the arc for Walla Walla and after a bucket by ESC it was Bello who made a 3 to tie the game again. Abby Mundy made one free throw for Evergreen State and Allison Haslam converted both of her free throw attempts. The Wolves took a one point lead into the second quarter after both teams combined for 41 points in the first.

Daniels got the crowd on their feet when she hit her first 3-pointer of the season to start the second quarter. The Geoducks went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead. Bello scored inside, Daniels made a layup and Natalee Trevino converted in the paint for Walla Walla. Evergreen State scored seven of the last 11 points and took a 35-32 lead into halftime.

Scoring was hard to come by at the start of the third quarter. Trevino made a layup two minutes into the quarter and Bello made a 3-pointer 30 seconds later and gave the Wolves a 37-35 lead. Montez scored in the paint for Evergreen State with 4:41 to go in the third for the first points in the quarter for the Geoducks.

Daniels scored inside and Haslam nailed a 3-pointer to give WWU a five point advantage. Evergreen State cut the lead back down to one before Daniels went on a personal 5-0 run. VanNess hit a free throw at the end of the third, but Walla Walla went into the fourth quarter up 47-42.

The Geoducks were unable to get any closer than four points in the final frame. Trevino made a jumper to push the WWU lead to 10 with under two minutes to go. Sidney Folkenberg and Jaylo Bello converted on a pair of free throws and Daniels made one to end the scoring for the Wolves.

UP NEXT

The Wolves will return to Windemuth Court on Friday, Jan. 31 to host the Lions of Multnomah at noon.