EUGENE, Ore. – The highly touted recruiting class of Northwest Christian University went head-to-head with the top recruiting class in the NCAA on Saturday night in a cross-town exhibition with the University of Oregon pulling away for an 89-36 victory.
The Ducks led from the get-go, jumping out to a 27-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. A dominant 17-4 performance in the second quarter put it away as the home team shot 56% from the field and hit eight three-pointers. The Beacons hit five triples of their own, but shot just 24% for the contest.
NCU was led by junior Niki Duncan, scoring 13 points behind 3-for-7 shooting from outside the rainbow. Monique Thompson added six points while Kenzie Weston and Hanna Mack scored four apiece. The Beacons were out-rebounded 46-26 and committed 29 turnovers. They did collected 11 steals from UO, including three from Thompson and two from both Weston and Katerina Brejchova.
Oregon was led by Morgan Yaeger, shooting 6-for-7 for 15 points off the bench. Mar’Shay Moore added 11 points from the bench as the UO reserves scored 55 points. Lexi Bando added 12 points shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.
Northwest Christian will officially open the season in just over two weeks, traveling to take on Simpson University on November 15. After a three-game tournament in Las Vegas, the Beacons will come back home for their first game in the Morse Event Center on November 22 against Willamette at 7 p.m.