CU's Danielle Clauson connected on 8-of-12 attempts from teh field on Friday night.
Cavs Slay Knights; Advance to CCC Championship Game
PORTLAND, Ore.— Surviving a torrid start by Warner Pacific from three-point territory, a rejuvenated defense combined with 19 second-half points by Danielle Clauson and helped the Concordia women’s basketball team defeat the Knights 74-58 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference semifinals on Friday night.
With the win, the top-seeded Cavaliers, ranked No. 11 in the latest NAIA poll, improved to 27-3 on the season and will host No. 14 The College of Idaho on Monday, March 2 for the CCC Tournament crown. Opening top is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside the Cavalier Gymnasium.
Warner Pacific, the fifth seed in the tournament, concluded the year with a 15-16 overall mark.
With a pair of threes by Kelsey Mattsen and Jacque Barton, the Knights connected on four of their first five attempts from beyond the three-point arc to mount an early lead.
Maintaining composure, the Cavs would scrap back to tie the contest at 19-19 on an Ann Snodderly layup with 12:12 remaining and would take the lead for good on a Rachel Scarpelli putback moments later.
Concordia would extend its lead to as much as a dozen points by way of another Scarpelli layup with the score resting at 39-27 with under a minute remaining before settling for a 40-29 margin at the half.
Not backing down, the Knights would respond in the second period with a 14-5 run which included more three points from Mattsen and Barton to cut the deficit to 45-43 as the midway point in the second period approached.
Holding Warner Pacific to without a field goal for nearly five minutes down the stretch, Concordia closed the door on the Knights by compiling a 16-6 run to go onto the 16-point win.
Danielle Clauson once again took over for the Cavs in the second half, adding 19 of her 24 points after the half. After not making a trip to the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes of play, Clauson went 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the second half.
Scarpelli posted 13 points and Angela Gimeno contributed with 12 points for three CU players in double figures.
The Knights were paced by 18 from Barton and 16 from Mattsen. Mattsen also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Concordia shot 40.7 percent from the field for the game compared to 37.5 percent for the visiting Knights. Warner Pacific finished with a slight edge in rebounding, collecting 38 boards to the Cavaliers 35.