Southern Oregon Overtakes Northwest
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Trailing 35-30 at halftime, Southern Oregon came back with a strong second half to defeat Northwest University 76-61 in Cascade Conference play tonight.
The first half was tightly contested with 5 ties and six lead changes. With the score tied at 28-28 with 2 minutes left in the period, senior Ashley Coila dropped in two free throws to give Northwest the 30-28 lead. Coila would score in the paint 8 seconds later to give NU a 4 point lead, 32-28. Corinne Burke would hit one of two free throws and Sanda Milovic would score on a jumper with 7 seconds left to put NU up 35-30 as the half ended.
Northwest would lead in the first six minutes of the second half until Haley Newell would hit a three to make it a one point NU lead, 43-42 (14:12) and Melissa Sweat would hit a trey to put Southern Oregon into the lead, 45-43 at the 13:42 mark. NU’s Alyssa Dario would answer with a 3 pointer to give Northwest a 46-45 lead, but a driving layup by Angelica Cahee would put SOU in front for good, 47-46, with 12:25 showing on the clock. A 23-4 Southern Oregon run would give them an insurmountable 70-50 lead with 5 minutes to go in the game as they would close it out for the victory.
Sanda Milovic (Kent, Wash.) led Northwest U. (2-21, 1-15 CCC) with 16 points while teammates Ashley Coila (Waitsburg, Wash.) and Alyssa Dario (Caldwell, Ida.) each scored 11 points for the Eagles. Domi Mendezona added 10 points for the Eagles who shot 33% for the night.
Southern Oregon (19-8, 8-7 CCC) was led by Melissa Sweat’s 17 points. Alexi Smith added 16 points and Angelica Cahee contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds. SOU out rebounded Northwest 46-35 and shot 45% from the field and 73% from the free throw line (16-22).
Northwest continues play tomorrow night when they face Oregon Tech in Kirkland at 5:30 p.m., while Southern Oregon travels to Olympia to take on Evergreen.