LA GRANDE, Ore. – After yet another week of taking down a higher seed, Oregon Tech earns the chance to play for an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament taking on top-seeded and 17
th-ranked Eastern Oregon in the 2015 CCC Women’s Basketball Championship game presented by U.S. Bank.
#5 Oregon Tech (22-10, 9-9 CCC) at #1 Eastern Oregon (26-5, 16-2 CCC)
7 p.m. PST – La Grande, Ore.
Oregon Tech earned its spot in the championship game after knocking off second-seeded Southern Oregon 77-74 on the road in the semifinal round of the tournament. A few days before that, Oregon Tech defeated fourth-seeded The Evergreen State 69-62 to stay alive in the postseason.
With eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Owls turned around a 12-point deficit to take the lead with the help of Megan Whetstone, who tallied a career-high 26 points, and Karly LeVeque who totaled 16 on her 20 points in the second half.
OIT needs one more upset to claim an automatic bid to the national tournament and earn the title of CCC Champion.
As the regular season champion, first-seeded Eastern Oregon has already earned the first automatic bid. Eastern will play in the CCC championship round after a 58-52 victory over sixth-seeded Northwest Christian in the semifinals.
The Mountaineers extending their winning streak to 12 games getting a big night from Madeline Laan (18 points) and Airashay Rogers (17).
Southern Oregon still has a chance at an automatic bid if Eastern defeats Oregon Tech, as the second automatic bid goes to the second-seeded team in the tournament.
Tip-off for the championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight in La Grande, Ore.