Concordia captured its first CCC title in women's basketball on Monday night.
Cavs Defeat Yotes 75-66 for First CCC Title
PORTLAND, Ore. – Five players reached double figures for Concordia en route to a 75-66 win over The College of Idaho in the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament championship game played on Monday night.
With the win, No. 11Concordia improved to 28-3 on the season while No. 14 C of I dropped to 29-4. Both teams will represent the CCC at the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship held in Sioux Falls, Iowa, from March 11-17.
After eight lead changes in the first seven minutes of play, Concordia used a 15-5 run to create a double digit lead with six minutes remaining in the half. The Yotes would cut the margin to three on a Whitney Owen layup with just over a minute to play, but the Cavs would respond with the final two buckets of the period for a 38-31 lead at the half.
Shooting 46.4 percent from the floor in the second half, Concordia pushed its lead to 11 at the 16:19 mark following five points from Angela Gimeno in a 15 second span. Gimeno spotted up for a three pointer and quickly raced back down court on the next possession after forcing the Yotes into a turnover.
After a Nicole Gall three pointer cut the Yote deficit to 59-51 with 9:57 to play, the Cavs held C of I to four points over the next five minutes to create a 16-point gap, the largest lead of the night for either team, with the score 71-55.
With the Cavs hitting 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the second half, the margin would prove too much for the visiting Yotes to overcome, eventually falling by the nine-point difference.
Danielle Clauson led the Cavs with 16 points, leading a quintet of CU players in double figures. Gimeno added 12, Kenna Borgmeier and Sarah Eischen each had 11 and Ann Snodderly notched a 10-point game. It was the second career double-digit performance for Borgmeier while Clauson nearly pulled in a ‘double double’ after grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
Christon Vander Esch, the newly minted CCC Player of the Year, posted a game-high 21 points after shooting 8-of-15 from the field. Whitney Own added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Yotes.
The Cavs shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) for the game while C of I connected on 38.7 percent (24-of-62) of its attempts. CU finished with a slight lead in rebounding, outboarding the Yotes 39-36. Each team turned the ball over 15 times.