by Lavi Aulck
Sports Writer

Shoreline’s women’s basketball team picked up its first league win of the season on January 23, trouncing the winless Edmonds Community College (EDCC) Tritons in a blowout on EDCC’s home floor.

The win was the Lady Dolphins’ first Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) win under the regime of new head coach Derek Witt.

SCC controlled the contest right from the early stages and built an 18-point lead by the end of the first half with the score 33-15. The Dolphins’ first half defense held EDCC to just two field goals on 2/22, shooting while SCC shot 12/29 for the half.

In the second half, SCC continued to distance themselves by extending the lead to as much as 29 points by the game’s closing stages before coasting to an easy 58-35 win.

Jena Walentowski led the way for Shoreline with 17 points to go with 9 rebounds on the night. Starters Fran McDonald and Jesica Anissipour also made solid contributions to the score sheet with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“I am happy with the outcome (of the game), but more excited to see this group of young ladies see their efforts be rewarded,” said Witt. “It had been quite sometime sense the Shoreline ladies team had won a conference game, and we have said all along that we wanted to be the group that starts the tradition going the other way.”

The victory was SCC’s first NWAACC win in women’s basketball since November 2006 and comes for a group of girls that Witt believes are laying the groundwork for the future success of both Witt’s tenure as head coach and women’s basketball at Shoreline.

“We look at [this season] like building a house,” said Witt “The foundation takes the longest part and it’s the part where you don’t always see a lot of progress. Then, once it is strong and set, the things that everyone sees come along much quicker. The only expectations I’ve put on this team is to grow and strive to get better each and everyday. For the most part, I feel we have done just that.”

Though Witt’s squad finds itself 8th in the NWAACC North Division with a 1-7 league record heading into January 30th’s contest against Peninsula Community College, he believes that the growing pains his team is growing through will lead to more than just wins- he believes they will eventually lead to a greater sense of satisfaction.

“Of course we would like to see more success in the win column,” said Witt. “However, the foundation is being laid and this group of young ladies will be able to look back in years to come and say ‘WE were the major part of rebuilding the program. We did the hard work.’ Right now, it is hard for some to understand, but I truly believe that later on, we all will need to thank these young ladies for having the courage to lay this groundwork.”