Northwest's Erika Hornyak scored 14 points in tonight's win.
Eagles Foil Beacons Upset Bid
EUGENE, Ore. - Attempting to pull off a top-25 upset for the second straight weekend, the Northwest Christian University women’s basketball team fell just short on Saturday night, losing to the #20 Northwest University Eagles, 67-64, in Eugene tonight. With the victory, NU secures its hold on first place in the CCC over an idle Concordia.
After Erika Hornyak scored the first bucked of the game for Northwest, the Beacons went on a 12-2 run, grabbing an eight point lead with 15 minutes to play. Ebony Herd brought the Eagles to within one point on a jumper at the 9:10 mark, 18-17, but the Beacons responded using a trey from Sheena Alexander and a three-point play courtesy of Martha Taylor to open up a 10-2 run and go ahead by nine, 28-19.
Northwest continued to push, and once again brought it to within one point, 30-29, with just over three to play, but the Beacons outscored the Eagles 5-1 over the final minutes to take a 34-31 lead into the intermission. Kia Gibson led all scorers with 12 points in the half on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting.
Northwest opened up the second half with a 7-4 run to quickly tie the game, eventually taking the lead, 41-40, with just under 16 minutes to play. The Beacons would get back up by as many as seven points, but over the final nine minutes the Eagles slowly clawed back, taking a lead with five minutes to play and hanging on in the waning minutes.
NCU had a golden opportunity in the final seconds, down just two points. Taylor was fouled underneath going up for the layup but could only convert one of two free-throw attempts that would have tied the score with seven seconds to play.
Northwest (15-5, 9-2 CCC) was led off the bench by Gibson, finishing with a game-high 16 points, shooting 7-for-7 from the field. Hornyak added 14 points and Jessalyn Jackson finished with eleven points and seven rebounds. McKenzie McKean scored six points, adding four assists and four steals.
The Beacons (8-13, 4-7) were led by Alexander, scoring 14 points as she hit a trio of three-pointers. Lindsey Shearer scored 12 points and tied for a game-high seven rebounds. Hope Williams also had seven boards, along with six points before fouling out late in the second half. Aly Bruns scored six points and registered a game-high six assists.
The Eagles will return for a single game at home next Friday as they play host to the Evergreen State College in the NU Pavilion. Game time is 5:30 p.m. NCU heads south to Klamath Falls on Friday to play Oregon Tech on Danny Miles Court and then moves on to Ashland to play Southern Oregon on Saturday. Games are set for 5:30 p.m. starts.