Concordia won the CCC tournament title for the second time in three years.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Danielle Clauson knocked home a 12-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer, lifting Concordia University to a come-from-behind 63-61 victory over The College of Idaho in the Cascade Conference Tournament championship game in Portland, Ore.
(Video of Game-Winning Shot by Clauson)
With seven-tenths of a second left, Clauson, the CCC Player of the Year, inbounded the ball from the baseline, right of the Lady Yotes (18-13) basket. The senior tossed the ball off the back of a C of I player, collecting the ball and swishing the jumper at the horn to give the No. 22 ranked Cavs their second league title in three years.
The Cavaliers (24-9) rallied from a 14-point second half deficit, taking their first lead since early in the game at 58-56 on a Brittany Yates trey with 1:35 remaining. The C of I would fight back, as a trio of Katelin Shannon free throws knotted the game at 59-59, but CU would respond with a driving left-handed lay-up by Rachel Scarpelli with 38 seconds remaining to give the hosts a two-point edge.
The C of I would fight back, as Nicole Gall found Shannon alone under the basket, with her reverse lay-up tied the score at 61-61 with 14 ticks left. The Yotes would tap a Courtney May pass, looking for Clauson, out of bounds to set up the wild finish.
Scarpelli led CU with 15 points, with Clauson scoring 13, as the Cavaliers were held to just 37-percent shooting, but canned eight three-pointers.
Shannon had a career-high 20 points in the loss for the Lady Yotes, while Nicole Gall recorded her fourth-straight double-double, tallying 20 points and ten rebounds - her 37th career game with 20-or-more points.
It marked the fourth-straight year that The C of I had played in the CCC title game - including a title last season against Eastern Oregon.
Both teams advance to the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, March 9-15. First-round pairings will be released on Wednesday afternoon.