Eagle Comeback Falls Short as L&C Edges NU
PORTLAND, Ore. – A Northwest University comeback attempt fell just short as Lewis & Clark edged the Eagles 52-50 in a non-conference game in the Pamplin Sports Complex tonight. Paige Burson’s 3-point shot rim out at the buzzer as the Pioneers held on for the win.
Trailing 28-17 at the half, Northwest U outscored the home team Pioneers in the second half including a 20-12 margin in the 4th quarter to have a chance to win at the buzzer. Hannah Carlson led the Eagles with 14 points, 10 in the second half to lead the comeback charge. Mariah Stacona scored all 9 of her points in the second half. NU was held to just 18 per cent shooting in the first half but heated up to shoot 43 per cent in the second half to catch the Pios.
Northwest U came out strong in the third quarter with an 11-2 run to pull to within two points, 30-28 after a Miranda Langenhorst lay-up in the paint and a Paige Burson free throw. But, L&C would go on a 10-0 run of their own to stretch the lead back to 12, 40-28 with 44 seconds left in the period. Emily Henderson’s jumper with 28 seconds left in the third would make it a 40-30 game at the end of the quarter.
Another NU run (10-4) to start the final quarter would reduce the Pioneer lead to 42-40 at the 5:51 mark. With L&C hold on to a 49-46 lead with 48 seconds to go in the game, Mariah Stacona would hit a big 3-pointer to make it a one point, 50-49 game. She would then make one of two free throws with 39 ticks left to tie the game at 50-all, but Ayisat Afolabi would get into the paint for a score to give the Pios the 52-50 lead with 10 seconds left on the clock. Charmaine Bradford would push the ball up the court and find a trailing Burson who would miss the 3-ppinter as time would run out.
In addition to Carlson’s team high 14 and Stacona’s 9, Kalee Fowler added 7 for Northwest U (3-4). Miranda Langenhorst had a team high 12 rebounds to go with her 6 points. NU shot 30 per cent for the game and out rebounded the Pioneers 47-45 including 21 offensive rebounds.
For Lewis & Clark (1-1), Ayisat Afolabii and Lauren Wood each scored 14 points with Afolabi grabbing a team high 12 rebounds. The Pioneers shot 30 per cent for the game and 75 per cent from the free throw line hitting 9 of 12 attempts.
"It was a tough loss against an energized Lewis & Clark team tonight," said Ken Crawford, NU head coach. "We kept coming back but it came down to the final 40 seconds of the game. It was a good effort and the team has great faith in each other. And now, we go from the frying pan into the fire tomorrow night when we play the No. 6 ranked George Fox team at their place. We are looking forward to the challenge."
Northwest U now travels to Newberg to play George Fox University in an exhibition game tomorrow at 6 p.m., on the Bruins home court.