KIRKLAND, Wash. - #15 Concordia’s shooting  heated up in the second half as they pulled away with a 62-48 victory over Northwest University in Cascade Conference play tonight and earn their 20^th win of the season and remained tied for first place in the league with the College of Idaho.

 

Northwest U. broke out to an early 12-6 lead on the Cavaliers as McKenzie McKean sank one of two free throws at the 15:33 mark, but an 8-2 run by Concordia would tie the score at 14 all on Rachel Scarpelli’s 3-pointer with 12:48 to go in the half.  After NU regained the lead on Erika Hornyak’s jumper (16-14) , CU would goon a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 23-16 on Ann Snodderly’s jumper with 5:39 to go in the half. Concordia would maintain their lead the rest of the half as Northwest’s Rachel Mitchell would cut the Cavs’ lead to six, 28-22 with 40 seconds to go as the teams headed for their locker rooms.

 

The teams would trade baskets to start the second stanza but Danielle Clauson’s free throw would put CU up by nine (35-26) at the 14:59 mark. Concordia would increase their lead to eleven, 41-30 as Sarah Eischen drained a jumper with 12:05 to go in the game.  Angela Gimeno shot would give Concordia their biggest lead of the game, 49-34 with 7:20 left. The closest Northwest U. would get would be 9 points on Carleigh Newman’s 3-point shot with 1:06 left on the clock as the Cavaliers would cruise to their 20^th win of the season and fifth straight win.

 

Rachel Mitchell (Sr., North Bend, Wash.) led the way for Northwest U. (7-16, 5-9 CCC) with 9 points and 5 rebounds as teammates Alexa Breidenbach (Jr., Lynnwood, Wash.) and freshman Jessalyn Jackson (Fresh., Vancouver, Wash.) each dropped in 8 points a piece for the Eagles.  Jackson added a team high 7 rebounds for NU. The Eagles shot 34.8% from 2-point FG range and were held to 26% from the 3-point line.

"I was proud of our team's defensive effort tonight," stated head coach Lori Napier. "We fought hard. Hopefully, this gives us some defensive confidence going into our next conference games".

 

For the 15^th ranked Cavaliers (20-2, 13-1 CCC), Ann Snodderly (Jr., Portland, Ore.) scored a game high 20 points. Ann Gimeno (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) and teammate Danielle Clauson (Soph., Edmonds, Wash.) added another 9 points for Concordia. CU shot 36% from 2-point range and 27% from 3-popint distance in the first half but heated up to shoot 52% FG and 50% from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half. The Cavs held a 36-36 advantage on the rebounding for the contest.

 

Northwest U. remains at home on Tuesday, February 3 as they host the Evergreen State College. Concordia will return home to host Eastern Oregon on February 6.