Big First Half Propels Cavs to Win at Willamette
SALEM, Ore.—Concordia’s Rachel Scarpelli opened the game with a three pointer and the Cavaliers never looked back en route to a 76–59 win over Willamette in non-conference women’s basketball action on Monday night.
With the win, Concordia, ranked No. 24 in the latest NAIA rankings, improved to 8-4 on the season while the Bearcats dropped to 2-7 overall. Concordia will return to Cascade Collegiate Conference action on Wednesday as the Cavs host Eastern Oregon with a 5:30 tip.
CU’s Megan Padilla and Danielle Clauson each reached double figures in scoring in the opening half as the Cavs fired at a 57.1 percent rate (20 of 35) from the field. The Cavs forced the Bearcats into 14 turnovers to create a 51-35 advantage at the break. A Grace Cappleman jumper with 55 seconds to play in the first gave CU its biggest lead of the first period with the score 51-31 before Willamette finished the half with four straight points which included a layup from Alex Zennan with 11 seconds remaining.
To start the second, CU went on a 12-5 run, capped by a Mariah Ladd jumper after an assist from Kourtney Craft, to create its largest lead of the day with the score 63-36.
Behind a pair of buckets from Keilyn Fujicka and a three by Zennan, Willamette cut the deficit to 16 points with 6:22 remaining, but the Cavs would reassert themselves down the stretch to take the 17-point win.
Eleven different players scored for Concordia with Clauson leading all scorers with 18 points after hitting on 8 of 12 attempts from the field. Padilla finished with 12 points and added a team-high seven rebounds and six assists.
Kaileigh Westermann led the Bearcats with 17 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds while Zennan finished with 12 points and led Willamette with six assists.
The Cavaliers ended the game with a 47.5 shooting percentage despite a 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) effort from beyond the three-point arc. Willamette shot just 34.8 percent from the floor and was narrowly edged in rebounds with the Cavs finishing with the 41 to 38 advantage.