The ball didn't bounce the Eagles way tonight.
Hot Shooting EOU Ends Northwest U's Season
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University’s season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Cascade Conference Tournament tonight as #6 seed Eastern Oregon cruised to a 90-65 victory. It was snowing outside the Northwest Pavilion but raining Eastern Oregon three pointers indoors as the Mountaineers hit 12 treys and blistered the nets for 51% shooting on the night. It was also a tough night for EOU fans as Snoqualmie Pass was closed for hours today due to heavy snowfall and accidents, preventing Mountie supporters from making it to the game.
NU, the #3 CCC seed, held a 14-12 lead six minutes into the contest as Erika Hornyak drained a 3-pointer, but that would be the last lead of the game for the Eagles as Shaylee Nielsen would answer with a trey for EOU to put them into the lead for good, 15-14, at the 13:23 mark. Eastern Oregon would then heat up and outscore NU 12-2, punctuated by a Kelsi Hurliman three pointer, to put the Mounties up 27-16 with 9:05 left in the half. While the Northwest hoop seemed to have a lid on it, EOU’s basket was wide open as they would hit 50% of their shots in the first half (15-30), including 7 of 16 shooting (44%) from beyond the 3-point line. NU would manage only 28% shooting in the half and hit only 1 of 14 (7%) three point attempts from outside. A 3-pointer by Nielsen followed by another trey by teammate Hurliman would give the Mountaineers a 19 point, 39-20 lead at the 4:16 mark. NU’s shooting woes would continue as Eastern Oregon would take a 44-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Northwest would hit only one of their first five shots to start the second half as EOU would knock down 3 of 4 to increase their lead to 21, 52-31 by the 17:39 mark. Nielsen would follow two free throws with another 3-pointer and a free throw for a four point play as the Mountie lead would grow to 25, 60-35, by the 12:10 mark. NU’s shooting would improve to 35.5% in the second half but the Mounties would continue their torrid shooting converting 52% of their shots (14-17) and 42% of their 3-pointers. The Eagles would continue to battle hard, but would be unable to make up any ground against the hot shooting Mounties from LaGrande, Ore. With 7:30 remaining in the game, EOU’s lead had grown to 32 points (76-44) as Samantha Flett would hit her driving layup in the paint. Eastern would cruise to their fourth straight win as the Eagles would drop their fifth consecutive game to end their season.
Senior Kia Gibson (Spokane, Wash.) led Northwest (18-10) with 19 points and 8 rebounds while teammate Marielle McKean (Moses Lake, Wash.) scored 15 points for the Eagles. NU was held to 31% shooting on the night and 15% (4-26) from the 3-point line. Rebounds were even at 41-41.
Eastern Oregon (19-9) was led by Kelsi Hurliman who scored 19 points including 5-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Kyle Miller and Vintea Georges each scored 18 for the Mountaineers. Shaylee Nielsen added 17 points, making 4 of 7 attempts from the 3-point line. EOU shot 51% (29-57) on the night and also hit 20-28 free throw attempts (71%).
Eastern Oregon moves on to the conference semifinals on Friday, Feb. 25 and will play #1 seed Concordia in Portland at 7 p.m. #4 seed College of Idaho will travel to Salem on Friday to take on #2 seed Corban also with a 7 p.m. tip off.