Tess Armstrong scored a game-high 12 points as OIT moved on to the CCC Finals with a 51-43 win over EOU.
Late Run Sends Oregon Tech to CCC Championship Game
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Trailing by eight with 6:39 to play Oregon Tech used an 18-2 run to close out the game, and Eastern Oregon University, 51-43, Friday night in the semifinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank at Danny Miles Court.
The comeback win sends the two-seeded Owls into the CCC tournament championship game on February 29 in Ashland versus the top-seed Southern Oregon University Raiders. Oregon Tech (25-7) will be striving for a third-straight tournament title and will also be heading back to Sioux City, Iowa for their third-straight NAIA Division II tournament championship appearance in March.
The teams went back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes, tied 12-all heading into the second quarter.
EOU’s free throw nearly four minutes into the period, and a Maloree Moss layup with 4:41 on the clock, gave the Mountaineers a 15-12 lead.
Tess Armstrong finally put Tech on the board, with an Ashleigh Vandenbrink free throw tying it at 15-all with 2:01 before the break. Tech would take a 20-18 edge into the intermission
A Karly LeVeque score gave Tech a six point lead 30-24 with 3:55 to play in the third quarter, but EOU managed a 7-1 spurt to tie the game at 31-all going into the final frame.
Tech moved up 33-32 to open the fourth quarter only to see EOU connect on three-straight 3-pointers, two by Payton Parrish and another by Jordan Klebaum, to go up eight, 41-33, with 6:39 remaining to play.
It was all Oregon Tech from that point, as a Tess Armstrong triple gave the Owls a 43-41 lead, and a pair of free throws by Megan Whetstone capped a 14-0 run.
EOU’s only points down the stretch came on a Madeline Laan score to cut EOU’s deficit to 47-43 with 21 seconds to play.
Tech converted on four-straight free throws to close out the game’s scoring, winning by the 51-43 final.
Four Owls finished in double figures led by a game-high 12 points from Tess Armstrong. Karly LeVeque and Megan Whetstone recorded 11 points each with Carly McIsaac adding 10 in the win. Whetstone went on to hand out five assists and with a game-high 12 rebounds gave her the games only double-double. LeVeque would add five rebounds and four assists.
Maloree Moss would lead Eastern Oregon University (21-10) with 11 points while Nikki Osborne grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Madeline Laan chipped in eight points to go with 10 rebounds with Payton Parrish netting eight points and grabbing four boards the loss.
Oregon Tech shot just 32-percent overall (16-of-50), but managed to hold the Mountaineers to only 23-percent from the floor on 15-of-64 attempts.
Oregon Tech shot nine 3-pointers making only two, while EOU recorded 30 tries from beyond the arch and connecting on only six. Oregon Tech finished 17-of-22 from the charity stripe compared to EOU’s 7-for-12. The Owls held a 48-39 edge on the boards.