The simplest way to winning a basketball game is to score more points than your opponent.

For the Columbia Basin College women, that was actually a hard thing to do Saturday in a 75-48 loss to Chemeketa in the first round of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges tournament at the Toyota Center.

“We couldn’t hit a shot,” said CBC coach Cheryl Holden. “It was just one of those games. We couldn’t shoot, but we kept playing hard.”

The Hawks came out of the chute fast, taking an 11-9 lead.

But things began to go wrong, as the Storm went on a 14-0 run, led by sophomore Hannah Fredrick, who scored 10 of those points in that run.

“My sophomores had the experience from last year,” said Chemeketa coach Jesse Ailstock.

Indeed, Ailstock started four sophomores who played here last year as freshmen and knew what to expect.

“I don’t care who you are. As a freshman, you’re going to struggle when you come here (to this tournament),” said Chemeketa sophomore Jordan Klebaum, who scored a game-high 22 points. “I’m telling you last year, I probably hit one three-point field goal the entire tournament here.”

What a difference a year makes.

KleBaum hammered six treys against the Hawks — five in the second half as the Storm easily pulled away. And many of them were NBA distance.

“I’ve been working a long time on that,” said Klebaum. “I went to a high school (Oregon City) where basketball is everything, and I hardly ever played. So I worked my butt off on shooting.”

Now, says Ailstock, Klebaum is being looked at by Division I schools because of her shooting.

By halftime, Chemeketa led 32-17. The Storm was 5-for-9 from the 3-point line, and CBC was 0-for-13 — a difference of 15 points.

“I told the girls at halftime that hopefully some of your shots will start falling,” said Holden. “This (tournament) is not easy. But they did everything we asked them to do.”

They hustled. Half of CBC’s 48 rebounds were on the offensive boards, and it forced 23 turnovers.

But the Hawks’ shots just would not fall.

By the time the game ended, CBC was 3-for-30 from the 3-point line, just 10 percent.

“I just told them after the game ‘You’ve got a choice,’” said Holden. “The highest we can finish is seventh.”

It’ll mean three straight days of early morning games.

CBC will play Tacoma at 8 a.m. Sunday in a loser-out contest.

Meanwhile, Chemeketa plays Bellevue in a noon quarterfinal contest.

Kelsey Yenney led CBC with 13 points, while Alicia Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Fredrick added 16 points for the Storm.

CHEMEKETA — Briana Stacona 5-8 1-2 11, Hannah Fredrick 6-13 1-3 16, Taylor Munson 0-0 4-6 4, Kim Tillery 1-2 0-2 3, Jordan Klebaum 6-14 4-4 22, Codi Shull 1-1 0-0 3, Haley Guest 3-6 3-6 9, Dani Kastrava 1-5 4-6 7. Totals 23-49 17-29 75.

COLUMBIA BASIN — Alicia Jones 3-6 4-6 10, Kellie Ross 3-15 0-0 8, Kelsey Yenney 6-12 1-1 13, Sierra Higheagle 1-13 0-1 2, Hannah Depew 2-5 2-2 6, Dana Cardenas 0-2 0-0 0, Kara Wenstrom m1-10 0-0 2, Kalli Williams 1-4 0-0 3, KeiOsha Avery-Winchester 2-8 0-0 4, Brenda Bingham 0-2 0-0 0, Kim Harrod 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-79 7-10 48.

Halftime—Chemeketa 32-17. 3-point goals—Chem 12-20 (Klebaum 6-11, Fredrick 3-3, Shull 1-1, Kastrava 1-2, Tillery 1-2, Stacona 0-1), CBC 3-30 (Ross 2-12, Williams 1-3, Bingham 0-1, Yenney 0-2, Higheagle 0-6, Wenstrom 0-6). Rebounds—Chem 48 (Fredrick 8), CBC 48 (Jones 9). Assists—Chem 14 (Fredrick 3, Munson 3, Stacona 3), CBC 8 (Ross 2). Turnovers—Chem 23, CBC 14. Fouls—Chem 13, CBC 20.