Cavs Continue Strong Start with Second California Win
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Concordia vs. Simpson
REDDING, Calif.—Behind a career night by junior guard Gabi Beyer, Concordia defeated Simpson University 82-76 in non-conference women’s basketball action on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers, picked to finish eighth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, improved to 4-0 on the season and will take its undefeated ledger onto the court next Tuesday when the team hosts Lewis & Clark College. Simpson, playing its fourth straight game against a CCC opponent, fell to 2-3 with the loss. Simpson defeated Oregon Tech (62-61) and Northwest (83-79) while also losing to Northwest Christian (66-52)
Playing for the second straight night on the road in California, Concordia got off to a hot start by opening up an 8-1 lead with offensive contributions from Malori Dixon, Lexi Amundsen and Grace Cappleman.
Despite allowing the Red Hawks back to within a single point on three occasions, the Cavs never trailed in the first half of play, eventually settling for a 41-33 lead at the break following a pair of free throw makes by Amundsen after being fouled on a drive with one second remaining.
After 13 first-half points, Gabi Beyer pushed the CU lead to 10 with a jumper at the 18:07 mark in the second. Returning three minutes later to connect on one of her two 3-pointers on the night, Beyer gave the Cavs its biggest advantage with the score 52-41.
A 12-1 run capped by Ariassa Wilson pulled the home team back to within a single point at 54-53 with 11:11 remaining, but the Cavs once again refused to break, eventually recreating a double-digit edge on
Limiting its opponents to under 40 percent shooting for the fourth straight contest, this time a .38.4 percent rate, Concordia would maintain its lead for the remaining minutes to post the wire-to-wire win.
Beyer ended the night with a 13 of 17 shooting line and a perfect 4 for 4 at the free throw line to register the game high. Beyer has a previous collegiate career high of 18 points which she set last season against Warner Pacific College.
“Our defense wasn’t where we need or expect it to be, but we stepped up offensively and made shots, particularly at the free throw line” CU head coach Aaron Christian said. “It is never easy to play on the road and Gabi was a huge reason for our success tonight.”
Amundsen (12), Caitlyn McCutcheon (11) and Huey (10) also posted at least 10 points for the Cavs while Amundsen shared the game-high of seven rebounds with Simpsons Nichole Jones.
Benefited by a dozen offensive rebounds, the Cavs finished with a 45-to-37 edge on the boards. Both teams had trouble keeping control of the ball with a combined 42 turnovers, 23 of which were contributed to Concordia. Wilson led the Red Hawks with 24 points on 10 of 24 shooting.