EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Center Hope Williams closed out an impressive weekend, scoring 21 points to lead the Northwest Christian University women’s basketball team to a 79-61 win over College of Idaho, completing a weekend sweep in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Northwest Christian established an early lead, using strong defensive pressure to force the Yotes into five early turnovers. The Beacons went ahead by nine, and maintained a 19-11 lead with 9:25 remaining. But The College of Idaho rallied, scoring the next the next ten points, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Nicole Gall to take a 21-19 lead. By the time the half ended, the Yotes were ahead by eight, 36-28. The Beacons had shot 43% in the first period, despite a 6-for-7, 13-point output from Williams.
The Beacon defense bunkered down in the second half, allowing just six points to Idaho in the first ten minutes of the period, busting out to a 53-42 lead. They rolled from there, closing out a final 20 minutes that saw the Yotes shoot just 28.6% from the floor while committing 14 turnovers.
Northwest Christian (7-12, 3-6 CCC) jump into a tie for 7th place in the CCC at the half-way point of the conference schedule. The Beacons shot 53% in the second half, finishing with a 48.3% clip for the game. Williams finished with a double-double, shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, adding 13 rebounds. Martha Taylor came off the bench to pace the second half comeback, scoring 16 points as she shot 10-for-10 at the free-throw line. The junior guard added four assists, five rebounds and two steals. Sheena Alexander followed with 15 points and four steals and Lindsey Shearer was also in double-figures with eleven points. Aly Bruns scored just three points, but led the team with five assists and four steals.
The College of Idaho (10-9, 5-4) was led by Nicole Gall, scoring 17 points along with seven assists and six steals. The senior finished the night one point shy of tying CI’s career scoring record (1392) and will have a chance to break that mark back in Caldwell next weekend. Meghan Hughes followed with 13 points while Nicole Bruce and Dayna Drager each chipped in ten. Bruce led the team with six rebounds as the Yotes were beat on the glass, 40-25.
Northwest Christian will be back in action next Friday night, playing host to Evergreen State to start the second half of the CCC schedule at 5:30 pm.