Semifinals of Women’s Basketball Tournament Presented by U.S. Bank on Tap for Friday Night
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The semifinals for the 2016-17 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by U.S. Bank will tip off Friday night at 7 p.m. with games being played in Ashland, Ore., and La Grande, Ore. Fans can follow the action on the CCC webpage tournament site-
Click Here or at
CCCWEBTV for live webcast.
No. 5 College of Idaho (13-14, 12-8 CCC) at No. 1 Southern Oregon (26-3, 18-2 CCC)
7 p.m. PST – Ashland, Ore.- (Ashland HS)
Top-seeded and No. 6 ranked Southern Oregon eased passed first time tournament participant Multnomah in the quarterfinal round, defeating the Lions 84-62 to advance. Autumn Durand led a Raider squad with 16 points that also got 40 points from the bench. Starter Tiani Bradford added an all-around game with eight points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Fifth-seeded The College of Idaho hopefully packed for a long round trip as they upset fourth seeded Northwest Christian 85-81 in Eugene. The Lady Yotes stayed in Oregon and will trek down I-5 to see if the magic can hold up against SOU.
With a lead by as many as 17 points in the 4
th quarter CI needed to withstand a furious comeback by the Beacons to hang on. Kiara Skinner and Petra Lumpert led the way with 22 points each. Lumpert contributed 16 of her 22 in the second half.
No. 3 Oregon Tech (22-7, 16-4 CCC) at No. 2 Eastern Oregon (26-4, 18-2 CCC)
7 p.m. PST – La Grande, Ore.- Quinn Coliseum
Second-seed and No. 13 ranked Eastern Oregon used a big second half to hold off a talented seventh seeded Corban team 76-66 in the quarterfinal round. Maya Ah You Dias scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first career double-double to lead the Mountaineers. Ashley Knight added 14 points and 8 boards. The Mountaineers dominated the paint with 42 of their points coming from the inside.
Third-seed Oregon Tech defeated sixth-seeded Northwest in a back and forth contest that had eleven lead changes before OIT was able to secure the 67-57. The fourth quarter was the difference as the Lady Owls went on a 19-4 run to create some breathing room from the Eagles. The Lady Owls, ranked No. 24 nationally, were led by Morgan Robert-Ili and Nohea Waiwaiole with 16 points each.
Oregon Tech and Eastern split the regular season meetings and met last year in the semifinals in Klamath Falls with the Lady Owls winning.
Friday's winners will play for a conference championship on Monday, Feb. 27, at the home of the highest remaining seed with game time set for 7 p.m.
Because there was a two-way tie for regular season title and tournament seeding was based on a coin flip tiebreaker, the winner of the coin flip Eastern Oregon University earned the first AQ but became the No. 2 seed. If EOU also wins the tournament, then the No. 1 seed (coin flip loser) which was Southern Oregon will be awarded the second AQ. In the event that EOU is not in the championship game the 2
nd AQ will go to the tournament winner.