CU Opens Women's Basketball Season with 70-63 Loss to Westminster
BOX SCORE
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Fourteen points apiece from Danielle Clauson and Rachel Scarpelli were not enough as Concordia dropped its season opener 70-63 to Westminster in Behnken Field House.
With the loss, the Cavaliers fall to 0-1 to open the season. Westminster improved to 3-1 with the victory.
Clauson (Edmonds, Wash./Kings H.S.) and Scarpelli (Troutdale, Ore./Reynolds H.S.) tied for the game-high for both teams, while Brittany Yates (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas H.S.) tied Westminster’s Michelle Pace with 13 points. The Griffins shot 42.3 percent from the field, while the Cavaliers shot 33.3 percent in the loss.
The Griffins opened the contest with four consecutive missed three-point attempts before the Cavs ever attempted a shot. The teams combined for six missed shots and five turnovers in just over three minutes to start the game, with the Griffins finally putting points on the board on Jenteal Jackson’s free throws at 16:42.
Concordia recorded its first points on a Clauson jumper a few seconds later, but the Cavs would go almost five minutes before they scored again. Westminster scored 11 points in a row to take a 13-2 lead, and it took until the last two minutes of the half for the Cavs to pull within four at 29-25. After a layup for the Griffins pushed the lead back to six, Clauson scored on a layup to send the Cavaliers into the locker room down 31-27.
Clauson opened the second half with another layup to pull within two, but the Griffins scored the next five points as the Cavaliers went three minutes without a basket. Concordia worked its way back and took a brief 37-36 lead on Gabi Beyer’s (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale H.S.) three-pointer with just under 15 minutes remaining in the contest. Westminster regained the lead on a layup, but a jumper by Clauson put the Cavs up one for the final time in the contest.
Westminster tried to pull away in the final 12 minutes of the game, slowly increasing the lead to 10 points at 64-54 with 1:31 left in the half. Concordia whittled the deficit down to five points with 38 seconds remaining and again with 22 seconds left, but the Griffins made five of six free throw attempts in the final 40 seconds to close out the contest.
Clauson finished 6-of-12 from the field and also contributed seven rebounds and four assists, but the CU leader fouled out with seven minutes left in the game and the Cavs within three. Scarpelli shot 3-of-13 from the field and also corralled seven rebounds for the visitors, who out-rebounded Westminster 50-37 in the game.
Westminster only had two players score in double-figures, but the Griffins had six players score at least eight points and all eight players who saw court time posted at least six.
Concordia head coach Aaron Christian found encouragement in the way the Cavs played against a quality NAIA Division I opponent to start the season.
“For our first game of the year and a lot of our players’ first collegiate basketball game, I thought we played well,” Christian said. “To go head-to-head with the No. 10 team in NAIA DI was a pretty good test for a team that was picked to finish sixth in our league.”
Christian also mentioned that the CU squad is far from full strength, due to some preseason health issues.
“We still have a few injuries and are still trying to get people back on the court, so we will be excited to see this team come together when we are fully stocked,” Christian said.
The Cavaliers have one more game in the Westminster Tournament, tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (PST) against Rocky Mountain College.