REDDING, Calif. – Sophomore Andrea Gloss shot 73% from the field and scored 17 points, leading the Northwest Christian University women’s basketball team to a 77-65 road victory over Simpson University on Wednesday night.
In their most complete game of the young season, NCU shot 52% from the field and held the Red Hawks to just 35% shooting as they forced 26 home-team turnovers. “It was a fun game for us tonight,” said Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton. “We regained composure when we needed to and our guards shot the ball well. As a team we took away their three-point chances and overall had a lot of learning opportunities tonight.”
Simpson University (0-2) took the early leading, going ahead 4-0 on a jumper from Kaity Hahn and free throws by Katie Ratfield. But the Beacons responded quickly, using a 14-2 run to claim an eight-point lead. The Red Hawks climbed back to within one point before NCU once again pulled away, taking a 35-30 lead into the intermission.
The Beacons (2-1) continued to hold a five-point lead and were ahead 42-37 at the 16:51 mark, but over the next three minutes NCU would capitalize on four SU turnovers to go on a 15-4 run. Gloss completed a three-point play at the 13:21 mark to give the Beacons their biggest lead of the night, 57-41. Simpson never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Gloss picked up her 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting. She tied with teammate Tami Brown for the game-high as Brown continued her dominance in the post with her third double-double in as many games, scoring 17 points and 14 rebounds. Hannah Frederick added 13 points and five assists while Sami Pitts scored 14 points and Allie Kelsey scored eleven.
The Red Hawks were led by Karley Menez and Biannco Padilla, coming off the bench to score ten points each. The Simpson reserves outscored their NCU counterparts 39-5 as their starters accounted for just 25 points.
The Beacons will return to the court on Friday afternoon at 1:00 pm when they open up play in the Bill Holtz Memorial Classic against The Master’s College. The Mustangs are ranked No. 10 in the NAIA Division I preseason poll.