Morgan Wolff & Layne Tucker
Tucker and Wolff Lift WP Over Oregon Tech
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Layne Tucker and Morgan Wolff each hit four shots from behind the arc to send Warner Pacific over Oregon Tech 76-58, inside C.C. Perry Gym tonight in a CCC Tournament Quarterfinal matchup.
The result sends Warner Pacific (20-10) to a semifinal appearance versus top seeded Corban, who defeated Evergreen tonight in Salem. The victory also marks head coach Matt Gregg’s first 20 win season and the Knights first post-season win since 2009. Oregon Tech’s season comes to end with a 21-10 overall record.
The teams split their two regular season contests, and the playoff clash looked to be a close struggle early on. The visiting Owls shot the ball well in the opening moments, and held a 11-10 lead after a Kaitlin Nielsen free throw. The Knights answered with the first of Morgan Wolff’s makes from distance, taking a 13-11 lead. WP would not trail again as Wolff drained two more treys in the period. OIT kept the score close thanks to 12 of 14 shooting from the free throw line, and cut the lead down to three after Kassi Conditt scored inside with under a minute on the clock. Layne Tucker splashed the first of her makes from three point range on the next possession however, which sent WP into the locker room with a 34-28 advantage.
The Knights slowly pulled away from OIT in the second period, and stretched the margin out to 14 points (46-32) after seven minutes of play. A few minutes later Tucker caught fire for WP, scoring 11 points in a span of three minutes to put the Knights ahead 67-43 with 7:12 to play. That would prove to be Warner Pacific’s largest lead of the game and the Knights cruised to the playoff win.
Tucker led WP in scoring with 16 points, while Wolff finished with 14. Katie Smith had a strong game in the paint, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Nichole Jackson handed out 11 assists.
Aundrea Albright had a game high 21 points for Oregon Tech. Kaitlin Nielsen added eight points, while Kassi Conditt blocked three shots.