Concordia's Kelly Huey fell just one point shy of her first career double-double, totaling nine points and 10 rebounds in the Cavs' loss to Lewis & Clark on Tuesday.
Cavs Fall to No. 6 Lewis & Clark, 69-66
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. Lewis & Clark
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Concordia women’s basketball team fell 69-66 to No. 6 Lewis & Clark on Tuesday.
With the loss, Concordia fell to 4-1, while Lewis & Clark improved to 6-0. The win for the Pioneers continues a strong start to the season for them as they have already beaten two CCC teams besides Concordia this season. The Pios beat Corban 82-54 back on Sunday, Nov. 18 for their first win over a CCC foe, then followed with a 74-55 win at Warner Pacific two days later.
The Cavaliers, however, gave the Pios by far their toughest test to date as the next closest game for the Pios this season was a 14-point win over St. Olaf on Friday, Nov. 23.
Concordia nearly stole the game from the Pios too after the Pios had led for the entire second half. The Cavaliers had a chance to tie at the end of regulation as they had possession of the ball, while only down three points with 16 seconds to go.
Gabi Beyer, who had hit three three-pointers in the game to that point, brought the ball up for the Cavs on the play. The Pios did not give Beyer any looks at a three however, so Beyer passed the ball to Dixon, who had two threes herself at that point and led the Cavs with 19 points in the game. Dixon took the ball on the right wing, but the Pios never gave her a good look either. Dixon tried to pass the ball into Lexi Amundsen for a quick two-pointer, but the ball got batted around, costing the Cavs precious seconds at the end of the game. By the time the Pios got possession of the ball, there were only 0.4 seconds left on the clock and the Cavaliers’ upset-attempt fell short.
Still, the Cavaliers had done well to give themselves a chance at the end of regulation as they trailed 67-60 with just 1:28 to go. The Cavs started their late comeback with a jumper in the paint from freshman McKenna Daly, then forced a shot-clock violation on the Pios next possession to get the ball back with a chance to get within a single score. Dixon delivered on that chance, hitting a jumper along the left sideline that cut the Pios’ lead to three at 67-64.
Now with the clock down to 29 seconds, Concordia had to foul, which they did, sending Lewis & Clark’s Sara Villanueva to the line for a clutch one-and-one. As luck would have it, Villanueva missed the front end of the one-and-one sending the Cavs back down the court with 27 seconds left and only down three. With the Pios closing out on the perimeter, Dixon passed down to Amundsen in the post, who made a quick jumper to draw the Cavs within one at 67-66.
Concordia again fouled Villanueva on the ensuing possession, but this time Villanueva made both free throws to give her team a 69-66 lead heading into the Cavs’ final play.
Lewis & Clark first took control in the game with a strong finish to the first half that saw them make eight of their final 10 field goal attempts in the period. Concordia had held the Pios to just 3-of-21 from the field to that point, but the Pios run broke them out of the slump.
Concordia’s strong defense put them up by as many as 11 points in the early going, though the Pios’ run would erased that by the end of the half. A layup from Caitlyn McCutcheon gave the Cavs their second 11-point lead at 22-11 and capped a strong first eight minutes of the half that saw Concordia make eight of their first 12 shots in the game. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they would make just one more field goal in the first half after McCutcheon’s layup as the Cavs went cold right when the Pios got hot.
Even with the loss, several Cavaliers had career nights, particularly McCutcheon, who fell one point shy of her first career double-double at Concordia. McCutcheon still set a career high with 11 rebounds in the game on Tuesday, while her teammate Daly set a career high with 14 points.
Besides them, Huey also missed out on a double-double by a single point, scoring nine points to go alone with 10 rebounds. Dixon and Beyer, meanwhile, each went into double-digits in points—Dixon with 19, Beyer with 11—the fourth time in the Cavs’ first five games each player has done so.
On the flip side, Kristina Williams finished with 26 points for the Pioneers to lead all players in the game.
Next up, Concordia opens its conference schedule with a road trip to Eastern Oregon and The College of Idaho. Concordia will begin the weekend against the No. 10-ranked Mountaineers, who have started the season 7-2. Tipoff for that game will be at 5:30 p.m.
Concordia plays its next home game on Tuesday, Dec. 4 when they host Linfield for a game at 7 p.m.