Coming off a hard-fought, three-point loss to Bellevue a few nights before, Peninsula’s women weren’t about to let Olympic College hang around.

The Pirate women outscored Olympic 32-22 in the first half and built a lead as big as 18 points as they blew by the Rangers from Bremerton 68-53 on Feb. 8, keeping Peninsula in the hunt for an NWAACC playoffs berth with five games remaining.

Sam Flett scored 24 points while teammate Bethany Holt had 10 rebounds and a game-high eight steals to lead Peninsula (6-5 in NWAACC, 10-10 overall) to the home victory.

Britney Yamane had 13 points and Brittany Bridges added 12 points.

Ariel McDermott led the Rangers with 19 points but with just six players suiting up for the injury-plagued Rangers, it wasn’t nearly enough. Olympic shot just 17-of-55 (31 percent) from the field, scoring on just two of 12 three-point tries.

Peninsula forced 25 turnovers and out-rebounded Olympic 47-30.

The story was quite different three days earlier when Peninsula visited Bellevue, as the Bulldogs bullied the Pirates on the glass, 59-36.

But horrendous shooting by the host Bulldogs gave Peninsula a chance, and Peninsula nearly came back to win in the second half as the Pirates fell short, 52-49.

Brianna Allen led the Pirates with 11 points while Flett and Yamane each had 10.

Neither team shot particularly well (Bellevue, 28 percent; Peninsula, 33 percent), but Bellevue’s domination on the boards gave them the upper hand.

Bridges had eight points, eight rebounds and five blocks in the loss.

Earlier this season, Bellevue blasted Peninsula 66-35 on Jan. 9.

The Pirates return to the hardcourt Feb. 13 to take on Skagit Valley in a crucial game for the division’s fourth and final playoff berth. The Pirates are on the road Feb. 16 at North Seattle before hosting Whatcom Feb. 18 and division-leading Everett Feb. 20.

NWAACC North Division standings (as of Feb. 12)

Team Conf. Over.

Everett 10-2 17-7

Seattle 9-2 16-6

Bellevue 9-3 14-10

Skagit Vly. 7-5 15-8

Peninsula 6-5 10-10

Whatcom 5-6 9-12

Olympic 5-7 8-14

Shoreline 1-10 3-17

Edmonds 0-12 0-21