Warner Pacific Downs NU, Three-way Tie for Second
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Warner Pacific defeated Northwest U. 73-61, to put themselves into a three-way tie for second place in the Cascade Conference with Northwest U., and Eastern Oregon. All three teams have identical 11-5 CCC marks.
Warner Pacific’s defense stymied Northwest in the first half limiting NU to 21% shooting, and an ice cold 12.5% shooting from the 3-point line to take a slim 26-24 lead at the half. Marissa Towry broke a 24-24 tie with her steal and layup with 10 seconds left to give WPC the lead.
With Warner Pacific leading 30-28 2 minutes into the second half, Northwest’s Jessalyn Jackson would steal the ball and hit Marielle McKean with a pass for the layup to tie the game at 30-all. After another tie at 32, Kristina Schumacher would steal the ball and drain the 3-pointer to put Warner Pacific in the lead for good with 16:20 to go. A Katie Harris trey would give WPC its largest lead over NU, 58-38 at the 9:19 mark. The closest Northwest would manage to get would be ten points, 71-61, with only 24 seconds to go in the game. Warner Pacific’s shooting heated up to a blistering 67% and a perfect 100% from beyond the 3-point line (4-4) while NU shot 44% and 29% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jessica Wilkerson (Issaquah, Wash.) led Northwest U. (15-9, 11-5 CCC) with her game high 16 points while teammates Jessalyn Jackson (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.) and Emily Drivstuen (Fresh., Monroe, Wash.). NU would make good 73% of the free throw attempts on 22 for 30 shooting.
Katie Harris was Warner Pacific’s leading scorer finishing with 15 points while Kelsey Mattsen contributed 12 for the Knights. WPC out rebounded the Eagles 42-32 and shot 46% on the night and a hot, 53% from the 3-point line.