Oregon Tech's season came to end in the first round of the NAIA National championships after falling to No. 4 Xavier University (Ill.) 79-50 on Thursday night.
Oregon Tech Season Ends with 79-50 Loss to No. 4 St. Xavier
SIOUX CITY, Iowa. – Oregon Tech (23-11) would see their season come to the end for the second-straight year in the first round of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, falling to fourth-ranked St. Xavier (Ill.) tonight by a 79-50 final.
One-seed St. Xavier raced to their first double-digit lead, 21-9, just eight minutes into the opening half and never looked back, leading the eight-seeded Hustlin’ Owls 48-23 at the intermission.
Oregon Tech, the 2015 Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion, managed just 25 percent from the field on 7-of-28 shooting in the first half.
St. Xavier used a 20-for-36 (56 percent) effort from the field in the first half alone to jump on top at the break by 25 points.
St. Xavier managed to push their 25 point half time advantage to as many as 38, 70-32, nearing the midway point of the second half, before a Karissa Harbick free throw and back-to-back scores from Karly LeVeque, stopped the Cougars’ run.
The teams would trade baskets throughout the final 10 minutes of play for the final 79-50 score.
Tech finished 15-for-53 overall for just 28 percent, and connected on just 4-for-20 from long range.
St. Xavier managed 47 percent from the floor on 33-of-71 overall, including a 9-for-35 clip from the 3-point line. The Cougars held a 46-38 advantage on the boards.
Karly LeVeque led the Tech offense with 13 points with Tess Armstrong adding 12 points and Carrie Thibault 10 in the loss.