EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University women’s basketball was eliminated from playoff contention this week after dropping a pair of Cascade Collegiate Conference games in Portland, running their current losing streak to six games.
On Friday night, the Beacons held a one-point lead with 16 seconds to play and top free-throw shooter
Katie Collins was at the line for a pair of attempts. The freshman missed both shots, and on their final possession, the Knights got a driving layup from Kristina Schumacher to escape with a 63-62 win.
“I’m very proud of how our girls played tonight,” said Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton. “We executed our game plan perfectly and we imposed our will on them defensively. Unfortunately it came down to free-throws and we couldn’t pull it out.”
The Beacons shot just 10-for-18 at the charity stripe in the game and missed six free throws in the second half. NCU was led in the game by
Lori Renner, scoring 12 points.
Katey Monteith added ten points while
Aly Bruns scored seven points with a game-high six rebounds and a team-best three assists. Jackie Cunningham added nine points and four blocks, one shy of the NCU single-game record.
Warner Pacific (14-9, 9-5 CCC) was led by Marissa Towry and Shayla Fetters, each scoring twelve. Schumacher, the Knights leading scorer, was held to just five points before her game-winning layup, finishing with seven points on the night.
On Saturday, the Beacons trailed by as 19 points in the first half against Concordia, and fought back to within five points with under seven minutes to play, but couldn’t climb all the way back in a 73-62 loss.
Coach Bolton said, “We didn’t come ready to play tonight and we struggled to find our rhythm in the first half. Lori played really well and I am proud of how we battled back in the second half. Katie and
Calie [McVicker] both provided sparks for us off the bench.”
Renner led the team with 17 points and six rebounds. Collins came off the bench to score ten. Cunningham added one more blocked shot, bringing her season total to 26, just six shy of the school single-season record (Emily Gray, 32).
Concordia (11-13, 5-9 CCC) was led by Danielle Clauson, scoring 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Rachel Scarpelli and Ann Snodderly added twelve points apiece. Snodderly had a huge night for the Cavaliers, flirting with a triple-double as she also had eleven blocked shots and eight rebounds.
The Beacons (8-16, 2-13 CCC) will be back in action this weekend, playing host to two of the top-three teams in the conference. CCC-leading College of Idaho, who the Beacons upset 66-65 in Caldwell last month, come in on Friday for a 5:30 pm tip-off. NCU then hosts Eastern Oregon on Saturday at 5:30 pm.