Kia Gibson's 23 points led Northwest over NCU.
Northwest Pulls Away to Defeat Northwest Christian
KIRKLAND, Wash. – The Northwest University women pulled away in the second half to defeat the Northwest Christian Beacons, 78-59, tonight in a Cascade Conference game in the NU Pavilion.
NU opened up with a 16-6 lead early and maintained their lead the entire half. NCU would pull to within five points, at 20-15 on free throws by Katey Montieth at the 8:52 mark, but a jumper by McKenzie McKean followed by five straight Eagle free throws would bump NU’s lead back up to 12 points, 27-15 with 6:45 to go in the half. Northwest Christian would out score Northwest 11-8 in the final three minutes of the half to close the gap to seven points, 41-34, at the half.
Northwest Christian would come out to start the second half and go on a 11-3 run to take their only lead of the of the half, 45-44, on two free throws by Hope Williams with 15:55 left in the game, but it would be short lived as NU would regain the lead on McKenzie McKean’s layup after a missed 3-point attempt by NCU’s Lori Renner. Northwest Christian would close in again, pulling to within three points, 53-50, at the 11:35 mark, but the Eagles would go on a 10-0 run, to make it 63-50 with 7:15 left on the clock. A three point play by Northwest’s Kia Gibson would make it, 70-57, after she made tipped in her offensive rebound and converted the free throw at the 3:48 mark. NU would out score the Beacons 8-2 the remainder of the game to win, 78-59 and pick up their 7th victory of the season.
Senior Kia Gibson led Northwest (7-4, 2-1 CCC) with her game high 23 points and 9 rebounds. Junior Jessalyn Jackson had another big night with her 17 points and 7 rebounds and also added another 5 blocks to her league-leading totals. Senior McKenzie McKean dropped in 9 points for the Eagles who shot 40% on the night. NU hit 78% of their free throws making 25 of 32 attempts and won the battle of the boards with a 45-37 edge in the rebounding totals.
Northwest Christian (4-5, 0-2 CCC), was led by Lori Renner’s 15 points while teammate Hope Williams added 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Beacons. Lindsey Shearer contributed 8 points for NCU who managed 33% shooting from 2-point range tonight. The Beacons made good 87% of their free throws going 13 for 15 from the charity stripe.
“We started the second half pretty slow tonight,” stated Eagle Head Coach Lori Napier. “so I was really pleased with the energy the kids brought off the bench. They got everyone going.”
Northwest U. remains in Kirkland and will host Corban University tomorrow night in the NU Pavilion. Northwest Christian visits the Evergreen State College in Olympia in more CCC play. Both games are slated for 7:30 p.m. starts.