Wilkerson Wills Eagles Past Cavaliers
PORTLAND, Ore.— Holding Concordia to 22.2 percent shooting in the second half, Northwest University defeated the Cavaliers 74-57 in Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball action on Saturday night.
With the result, Northwest improved to 10-7 overall and 6-3 in the CCC while CU dropped to 10-9 and 4-5 in league dates. Concordia returns to action on Jan. 23 when it hosts Warner Pacific in its lone game the week while the Eagles will host Corban College and Northwest Christian University beginning with Corban on Friday night in Kirkland, Wash.
Jessica Wilkinson got the Eagles off to a fast start by draining a trio of three pointers within the first two minutes of play giving the team a quick 9-2 lead. Wilkinson would push Northwest’s lead to double digits on a jumper at the 11:04 mark for a 24-14 score and the Eagles would not look back as they cruised to a wire-to-wire win.
Wilkerson tallied 17 first-half points as the Eagles carried a 35-27 lead at intermission.
A pair of Alyssa Welk free throws with 8:29 remaining extended the gap to 18 with the score 58-40.
The Cavaliers made a dent in the deficit by generating a 14-5 run that would cut the Northwest lead to nine with five minutes remaining, but the Cavaliers would manage just three points down the stretch, all free throws by Danielle Clauson en route to the 17-point loss.
Wilkerson led all scorers with 29 points with the aid of a 9 of 9 night from the free throw night. The senior guard hit only 8 of 21 from the field but converted four three pointers in 12 attempts.
Clauson finished with 21 points to lead Concordia; also getting nine of her points from the free throw line.
The teams finished one rebound apart in the box score with Concordia finishing with 46 boards to 45 for the Eagles. Northwest turned the ball over on 22 occasions to 20 for the Cavaliers. Concordia shot just 27.9 (17 of 61) percent from the floor, including just 54.3 percent (19 of 35) from the free throw lin. Meanwhile, the Eagles fired at an 80.6 percent (21 of 26) clip from the free throw line and 39 percent (23 of 59) from the field.