NU's Brittney Marshall finished with 25 points.
Eagles Defeat Southern Oregon, Win Sixth Straight
The #18 Northwest Univeristy Eagles, led by a game high 25 point performance by senior Brittney Marshall, won their sixth straight game as they defeated Southern Oregon, 83-71, in Cascade conference play tonight to maintain their two game league lead.
The Eagles built a 12 point lead in the first ten minutes at the start of the game as they took a commanding, 46-23 lead into the locker room at the half. NU shot 45% from 2-point range and a hot, 54% from the 3-point line converting 7 of 13 attempts. SOU was held to 30% shooting and 43% from 3-point range.
By the 18:27 mark of the second half, Northwest had increased their lead to 23 points, 54-31, as it looked like they would cruise to their 17th win of the season. But, the Raiders would not go away easily and would creep back into the game to pull to within 8 points, 62-54, after a Whitney Scoot layup and Celonna Arrington free throw. Northwest would then go on a 9-0 run capped off by a driving layup by Erika Hornyak as she would grab a rebound and dribble the length of the court for the score. NU would maintain their lead until the 3:12 mark when SOU would hit a layup by Lindsey Scheffler and Arrington would drill two free throws to cut the Eagles’ lead to 11 with 3:04 remaining. SOU’s Nicole Mowbray would cut the NU lead to 9 with her short jumper, 80-71 with 40 seconds to go, but NU would make 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch and McKenzie McKean would end the game with a steal.
In addition to Marshall’s 25 points, Northwest U. (17-5, 11-2 CCC) had 19 points from senior Kia Gibson and 15 points and 4 assists from senior guard Erika Hornyak. NU would shoot 42% on the night, 45% from beyond the 3-point line and make good 75% of their free throws (9-12).
Southern Oregon (13-13, 6-8 CCC) was led by Whitney Scott’s 20 points and 7 rebounds while teammate Alexi Smith contributed 12 points for the Raiders. Jamie Roupp added 10 points and Krystal Smith had a game high 10 rebounds. SOU shot 35% for the game, 44% from the 3-point line and 69% from the charity stripe.
"I felt we were prepared for this game and it showed in the way we started the first half," stated Lori Napier, Eagle head coach. "We had some defensive lapses in the second half, but did a nice job holding the lead."
NU remains at home tomorrow night as they host Oregon Tech at 5:30 p.m. in the NU Pavilion and Southern Oregon Travels to Olympia to take on the Evergreen State College also at 5:30 p.m.