Knights Heat Up, Burn Mountaineers
PORTLAND, Ore. – Thanks to a 70.4 percent shooting performance in the second half and a career high 11 assists from Cameryn Calhoun, Warner Pacific erased a nine point half-time deficit and defeated Eastern Oregon 87-74 in Cascade Collegiate Conference basketball action tonight at C.C. Perry Gym.
In addition to the accuracy from the floor, the host Knights (12-9, 6-5 CCC) hit 16 of 16 free throw attempts in the second half and 22 of 24 for the game. Eastern Oregon (13-8, 5-7 CCC) also shot the ball well by scoring the ball at a 49.2 percent clip for the game, but mustered only 9 free throw attempts from the line.
The visiting Mountaineers were especially effective in the early moments of the game, and ran out to a 27-16 advantage with 7:31 to play in the first half. WPC fought back and cut the Eastern lead to six, but Kelsea Hurliman drained a long three pointer at the halftime buzzer that pushed the EOU lead back to nine and gave the Mounties momentum at the break.
Warner Pacific regrouped over intermission and responded by hitting their first seven shots to begin the second period. The Knights grabbed their first lead of the game at the 15:03 mark on two Calhoun free throws, then battled EOU through nine lead changes and five ties over the next six minutes of play.
A steal and layup from Jessica Denmon gave WPC the lead for good with 9:06 to play, and the Knights continued their torrid shooting pace to pull away down the stretch. Warner Pacific’s advantage reached as many as 18 points and steady free throw shooting salted the game away.
Miranda Holenstein scored a season high 23 points to lead Warner Pacific. Freshman Jessica Denmon turned in another quality effort with 8 points and a game high 9 rebounds. Kelsey Mattsen added 18 points, and needs just three points to surpass Jillian Zeisler to move into 2nd place on the Knight career scoring list.
Kelsea Hurliman scored 21 points to lead EOU, while Rosebud Guthrie and Vintea Georges added 15 and 14 points respectively.
Warner Pacific hosts College of Idaho tomorrow night, while Eastern Oregon heads across Portland to take on Concordia. Both games are at 5:30 pm.