PORTLAND, Ore. – Concordia University saw its double-digit lead dwindle to three points in the final minute, but the Cavaliers held on to defeat Eastern Oregon 70-65 in a Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball tournament semifinal contest Friday night at Cavalier Gymnasium.

 

With the win, Concordia improves to 23-9 overall this season. The CCC regular-season co-champions and top seed in the CCC tournament will host fourth-seeded College of Idaho Monday at 7 p.m. to determine the conference tournament champion. Eastern Oregon’s season ends with a 19-10 overall record.

 

Concordia jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game as the Cavaliers shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the first half. Nicole Redd’s three-pointer ended a 12-0 CU run and propelled Eastern Oregon to score eight straight points to pull within 16-10, and the Mountaineers narrowed the lead to four at 20-16 on Shaylee Nielsen’s three-pointer with 9:10 to play in the period.

 

Rachel Scarpelli answered with her own trey on the other end, sparking a 10-0 Cavalier run to put CU back up by 14 with just over six minutes before halftime. Three-pointers by Kelsea Hurliman and Redd sandwiched a jumper by Nielsen to give the Mountaineers an 8-0 run to make it a 30-24 game with 4:38 left to play in the period, but the Cavs continued the string of runs with a 9-0 streak to take a 15-point lead, their largest of the contest.

 

Eastern Oregon got back to 44-33 by halftime, and the Mountaineers opened the second half with a Hurliman three-pointer to pull within eight points of the Cavs. Scarpelli knocked down back-to-back shots, including one from long range, as CU built its lead back up to 13 at 49-36. Eastern Oregon scored 10 of the next 12 points to shrink the lead to five points, and the Mountaineers hung close the rest of the way.

 

Redd hit a three-pointer to make it a four-point game at 59-55 with 11:07 to play. Concordia scored five-straight to stretch it back to nine points, but Hurliman’s layup pulled the Mountaineers within three at 66-63 with 3:13 remaining. Danielle Clauson hit a pair of free throws, but Kyle Miller’s jumper at the other end maintained the one-possession game going into the final minute of play.

 

Nielsen missed a three-pointer with 39 seconds left that would have tied the game, and Courtney May hit a pair of clutch free throws with 23 seconds to play to reach the final score of 70-65. Nielsen missed another three-pointer with 10 seconds to play, and the ball fell out of bounds to the Cavaliers to clinch the victory.

 

Clauson finished with a game-high 20 points and added seven rebounds and two blocks. May filled up the box score with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Scarpelli totaled 17 points and Megan Padilla added 10 for Concordia. The Cavaliers out-rebounded the Mountaineers 48-to-28 in the contest.

 

Redd led Eastern Oregon with 19 points in the contest. Nielsen finished with 14, Rosebud Guthrie tallied 11 and Hurliman scored 10 for the Mountaineers.