The Peninsula College women’s basketball team weathered a first-round loss — and a Pacific Northwest storm that canceled some conference tournament games — to take fifth place at the Pierce Women’s Raider Holiday Invitational in Tacoma last weekend.

The Pirates (6-4) dropped a 63-51 decision to Clackamas on Dec. 9, but rebounded to knock off Pierce 64-41 on Dec. 10 and Columbia Basin 84-73 in the consolation bracket final.

Clackamas held a four-point lead at halftime but used a 23-14 streak in the third quarter to take control.

The Pirates, who shot 33 percent (19-of-58) from the field, were led by Anaya Rodisha’s 24 points. Tiffany Smith chipped in nine points and eight rebounds while Alicia Duga added four points and seven assists.

Katie Krammerer led Clackamas with 16 points.

On Saturday, the host Raiders from Pierce were no match for Peninsula, falling behind 15-3 after one quarter and never evening the score in a 23-point PC win.

Smith led all scorers with 15 points while Dugan added 12 points and four steals.

The Raiders, who out-rebounded PC 50-35 but shot just 19 percent from the field, were led by Denisha Navarro’s 12 points.

In the Sunday matchup, Columbia Basin looked to break open the game in the second quarter with a 10-point advantage at 41-31, but Peninsula — thanks to a huge afternoon by Rodisha — evened the game after three quarters (53-53) before taking control.

Rodisha went 11-of-19 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line for her 35 points. Sephora Yayouss had a big all-around game with nine points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Dugan had 12 points and Jenise McKnight added 10.

Alexcis Higginbotham led the Hawks with 19 points.

PC tips Highline

Peninsula rode an 18-2 second-quarter run to help carry them to a 72-53 home win over Highline on Dec. 7. Peninsula ended up scoring 28 points in that big second quarter Wednesday as Taisha Thomas got hot in the period and ended the half with 13 points. She finished with 15 for the game.

Dugan had a great game on both ends of the floor, filling up the passing lanes for seven steals and scoring 23 points, many of them layups after thefts. McKnight also added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite the win, PC coach Allison Crumb kept the team in the locker room for half an hour afterward. She wasn’t happy with her team’s overall effort or energy.

“I didn’t see a lot I liked tonight,” she said. “I didn’t see energy and heart. We won, but that isn’t what it’s about. Taisha, Jenise, Alicia had great games, but as a group, we didn’t have a great game. We gotta figure it out and play like a team.”

The game was tight early with the score 13-12 after the first quarter.

Peninsula took control in the second quarter thanks to 10 points by Thomas in less than four minutes. Dugan added a pair of 3-pointers during the big run as the Pirates opened up a 33-17 lead. Milan Barnes also hit a pair of 3-pointers in that big second quarter.

Peninsula took a 41-27 lead into the half, shooting 6-for-12 from 3-point range in the first two quarters thanks to 3-for-4 shooting from outside by Dugan.

The Pirates then opened the lead up to 51-30 midway through the third quarter after a Thomas dribble drive for a bucket.

But, the Pirates went stone cold for a while in the second half, going 5:32 without scoring a point. The Thunderbirds outscored the Pirates 10-0 during that stretch, cutting the lead in half and clawing back to make it a 51-40 score.

At the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, however, Peninsula scored eight straight points, capped by two free throws by McKnight for a comfortable 59-40 lead early in the fourth quarter. Highline never seriously threatened again after that.

Looking ahead

The Pirates get one tournament and a road matchup just before the new year to close out non-conference play.

PC takes on top-ranked Lane on Dec. 15, No. 3-ranked Columbia Basin on Dec. 26 and Green River on Dec. 17 at the Green River Crossover in Auburn. Peninsula then takes on Clark in Vancouver on Dec. 30.

Conference play opens Jan. 11 when the Pirates travel to Shoreline.

Sports editor Pierre LaBossiere contributed to this report. He can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.