CU's Rachel Bristow hit 3-of-5 from three-point territory against WOU on Wednesday.
Concordia Holds Off Western Oregon 72-63
PORTLAND, Ore. –Rachel Scarpelli and Danielle Clauson tied for a game-high 15 points as Concordia defeated Western Oregon in non-conference women’s basketball action on Wednesday night.
With the win, the No. 21-ranked Cavaliers improved to 2-0 on the year while WOU dropped to 1-3. Concordia will next take the floor at Seattle University on Nov. 17 in the team’s third and final exhibition matchup of the year.
The Cavs held a six-point lead early in the contest after a three-point basket by Rachel Bristow but the visiting Wolves would recover quickly and eventually take a lead of their own; staking their first lead of the evening with a Katie Torland there near the 10-minute mark for a 16-14 advantage.
Concordia would manage to tie the score on two occasions in the closing moments of the first half, the second occurring with the score 28-28, but would settle for a one-point deficit heading into the break with the score 35-34.
The home side wouldn’t take much time out of intermission to reclaim the advantage as a Sarah Eischen jumper 28 seconds into the period flip-flopped the edge.
Behind a 61.9 shooting percentage (13-of-21) in the second half, CU would extend its lead to 56-46 with 11:40 remaining with three-point connections from Bristow and Scarpelli.
From there, the Wolves would cut the lead down to five with a Courtney Martin trey with two minutes to play but the Cavs would hold on with the help of free throws by Scarpelli and Leilanie Lewis down the stretch.
“I thought our team effort was great,” CU head coach Aaron Christian said. “WOU is a tough team that will give people fits in their league. Our freshman really stepped up and our shots were falling. We played like veterans and we played as a group.”
After shooting 48.3 percent in the first half, the hot shooting in the second propelled the Cavs to a 54 percent performance from the field. The Wolves hit 21-of-60 for the game for a 35 percent rate and were led by 12 points from Jamie Richardson, 11 from Meaghan White and 10 from Torland.
Concordia’s Ann Snoddery posted a game-high eight rebounds and added three blocks. More than half of Scarpelli’s 15 game at the free throw line where she hit 8-of-10 attempts.