NU's Carley Davis (in white) gets tangled up with a Simpson player.
Big First Half Powers Simpson Over Eagles
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Simpson University shot 55% in the first half as they held on to defeat Northwest University 83-79, in a non-conference game tonight.
The Red Hawks from Redding, Calif., hit 18 of their 33 shots and hit 63% from the 3 point line as they would build a 47-34 lead on Northwest U. at the half. Northwest shot a respectable 50% (14-28), but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Simpson.
In the second half, Tiffany Aaserude’s 3 pointer would put Simpson up twelve, 55-43, with 16:06 on the clock, but a Carley David jumper and two free throws by NU’s Domi Mendezona would cut the Red Hawks lead to five, 57-52, with 12:56 to go in the game. Simpson would then go on a 7-0 run capped off by an Aaserude lay in and two free throws by Madison Cox to increase the Red Hawk lead to 64-52 at the 10:43 mark. With Simpson up 66-57, NU would heat up for a 6-0 run to cut the lead to three, 66-63, with 5:47 remaining. Each time NU would make a run, Simpson would answer. Domi Mendezona would sink two free throws with 44 seconds to go to make it 77-74, but the Red Hawks would go 6 for 6 from the free throw line in the final seconds to preserve the victory.
Sanda Milovic led Northwest (0-3) with 18 points and shooting 50% for the night. Carley Davis came off the bench to score 14 and junior guard Domi Mendezona scored 13 points and handed out 5 assists for the Eagles. NU shot 48% for the game, 57% (7-15) from the 3 point line. The Eagles lost the rebounding battle, 38-33.
Simpson (2-2) got 26 points from Tiffany Aaserude as she hit 6 of 11 (54.5%) from the 3 point line. Madison Cox scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while teammate, Nichole Jones, scored 15 points and tallied 7 rebounds for the Red Hawks. Ariassa Wilson contributed 13 points as Simpson shot 46% for the game, 57% (8-14) from beyond the 3 point arc.
"What a great crowd and environment to play in front of tonight," said Lori Napier, NU head coach. "We just got too excited in the first half and took too long to settle down and dug a hole too deep for us to overcome."
Northwest U. will travel to Walla Walla after the Thanksgiving holiday and will play Whitman College on Sat., Nov. 24.