PORTLAND, Ore.—Facing the NAIA’s No. 15-ranked team, Lewis & Clark never trailed en route to a 70-63 road win against Concordia on Tuesday night.

 

With the win, Lewis & Clark improved to 7-4 on the season while Concordia fell to 11-4 as its 11-game winning streak came to an end.

 

Lewis & Clark’s Neva Hauser connected on the first basket of the game and was quickly answered by a jumper from CU’s Danielle Clausen. The two teams traded baskets again for a 4-4 score and from there the Pioneers were able to distance themselves from the Cavaliers by outscoring the home side 29-18 the rest of the half.

 

Concordia went on an 8-2 run to start the second half to cut the deficit to five with the score 35-30 at the 17:40 mark but the Pioneers once again pulled away by holding the Cavs without a point for more than four minutes.

 

After being down by nine on several occasions, Concordia pulled to within four with the score 50-46 on a pair of Clauson free throws only to see the Pios claim another nine-poit advantage via a Megan Spence layup and a Hauser three from the top of the arc with seven minutes to play.

 

The Cavs made one final push with a Kai Schmidt layup making it a 55-51 contest with 5:30 left, but a successful jumper by Kristina Williams and the ensuing free throw following a foul on the play halted any comeback hopes.

 

The Pioneers would push the lead to 10, the largest of the half, with less than two minutes remaining and hold on for the seven-point win.

 

After scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the first half alone, Spence connected on a 22 points and 12 rebounds for Lewis & Clark, one point shy of a team-high 23 points from Williams.

 

Clauson, the leader in field goal percentage in the Cascade Conference, hit just 9-of-21 from the floor to score a game-high 26 points. Clauson was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line and secured a team-high seven boards. Sarah Eischen added nine points and Courtney May eight as Clauson was the lone CU scorer in double figures.

 

Overall, both teams were steady at the line as CU converted 20-of-22 for a 90.9 percent success rate while Lewis & Clark hit 17-of-21 for 81.0 percent. Concordia forced L&C into 25 turnovers while committing just 15 of their own, but were owned on the boards as the Pioneers outrebounded Concordia 41-26.

 

Concordia returns to action and CCC play with a road match at Eastern Oregon on Dec. 30. Opening tip is set for 7:30 p.m. in La Grande, Ore.