Lady Yotes Upend Concordia
CALDWELL, Idaho - The College of Idaho women's basketball team clinched a first-round Cascade Conference Tournament home game with an 82-72 victory over Concordia University at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. It marks the second-straight season and the third time in four years that the Lady Yotes (16-7, 13-3 CCC) will open the playoffs at home. The C of I also improved to 8-0 this season when scoring 80-or-more points in a game.
The Coyotes never trailed in the game and led 46-29 at the break. The lead would reach 60-41 on a pair of Christon Vander Esch free throws with 14:08 left, but the Cavaliers (13-13, 9-7) would hold the hosts to just two field goals and force five turnovers in the next seven minutes, outscoring the Yotes 22-7 to get within four. CU would be within 69-65, but the Yotes would use an 8-0 run to put the game away, getting a pair of buckets off Cavalier turnovers to notch the win.
Kayla Brewer equaled a career-high with 18 points, with Whitney Clark adding 17. Christon Vander Esch continued her stellar play of late, scoring 18 points with nine boards, with Magen Dufurrena scoring a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds.
Joyce Oniah had a monster night for CU, scoring 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor. Danielle Clauson had 14 points and five rebounds in the loss.
The Lady Yotes, who sit one game back of front-running Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon, head to Evergreen State on Friday and Northwest on Saturday night.