Northwest Holds Off OIT for CCC Victory
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Northwest University held off a late Oregon Tech surge to defeat the Owls, 47-43, in Cascade Conference play in the Pavilion tonight.
In a close first half of play, Northwest tied the game at 13 when freshman Jessalyn Jackson hit a jumper with 10:50 left in the half. Alyssa Welk would drop in two free throws to put NU up 15-13 but Amanda Johnston jumper at the 6:46 mark would knot the game up at 15-15. The game would see three more lead changes before Northwest would take the lead for good in the half as McKenzie McKean would drain a shot to put NU in the lead 19-18. Northwest U. would out score OIT 7-3 the remainder of the half to take a slim, 26-21 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Northwest U. would increase their lead to 37-29, but OIT would go on a 7-0 run to pull to within two, 37-35, with 9:56 left in the game. But the Eagles would then go on a 6-2 run of their own to build their lead back up to 47-37 at the 6:18 mark. Tech would claw back to within three points (46-43) with 44 seconds left but NU's Dani Drivstuen would sink a free throw with 26 seconds left to end the scoring and seal the victory for the Eagles.
Northwest U. (4-8, 2-1) was led by freshman Jessalyn Jackson's (Vancouver, Wash.) 12 points. Senior guard Rachel Mitchell (North Bend, Wash.) contributed 11 points for the Eagles. NU managed only 27% shooting on the night but hit 73% of their free throws.
Oregon Tech (7-5. 0-3) leading scorer on the night was Amanda Johnston who scored 12 points. Nicole Morgan added 8 points for the Owls who out rebounded NU 47-31. OIT shot 37% from 2 point range and one 11% from the 3-point arc and 25% from the free throw line.
Northwest U. will remain at home Saturday night as they host Southern Oregon at 5:30 p.m. and OIT travels to Olympia where they will take on the Evergreen State College.