EOU heats up late to capture CCC Tournament title at SOU
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon women’s basketball teams traded blows befitting of the Cascade Collegiate Conference’s heavyweights Monday night at Mountain Avenue Gym.
In the end, a late 3-point barrage gave the 13th-ranked Mountaineers the knockout in the championship game of the CCC Tournament presented by U.S. Bank. They broke a tie at the halfway mark of the fourth quarter with 3-pointers on four straight possessions and held on for a 74-69 win, ending sixth-ranked SOU’s home winning streak at 27 games.
EOU (28-4) and SOU (27-4), which shared the conference’s regular-season title with 18-2 records, had already secured the CCC’s two automatic bids to the NAIA Division II tournament. The 32-team bracket will be revealed at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and the first round begins March 8 in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Mountaineers shook off an ugly first quarter in which they shot 2-of-10 from the field and committed 10 turnovers, starting the second with 13 unanswered points and turning a 15-4 deficit into a 32-23 halftime lead. The lead grew to 14 points in the third, but SOU rallied back and it was tied again at 56-56 after Tiani Bradford’s 3 bounced in with 5:27 to play.
That’s when EOU made its move – getting 3-pointers from Jessica Sexton, Reece Bauer, Payton Parrish and Sexton again on consecutive possessions to make it 68-59 with 3:25 left.
Ashley Knight recorded team-highs of 14 points and eight rebounds, contributing to EOU’s 43-17 advantage in bench points. After missing their first four tries the Mounties finished 12-of-27 beyond the arc, including 5-of-7 in the fourth, and got 11 points and three triples apiece from Sexton and Parrish. Darian Gasseling added three more 3s and six assists, and Stormee Van Belle had seven points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
"This is an exciting night," Mountaineers coach Anji Weissenfluh said. "Anytime you can win a big game against a tough opponent on the road, it is special. Southern is an outstanding team with a huge home crowd behind them, and I am proud of how we battled back after a slow start. It was a hard-fought championship game and I'm so proud of my team and their resilience."
Tiani Bradford’s 19 points and seven rebounds and Autumn Durand’s 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks led the Raiders. That duo also keyed a pivotal sequence with 30 seconds left in the third period when, trailing 50-40, Durand drove to the hoop for a layup, Bradford came up with a steal, and Durand dished to Bradford for a 3-pointer before the buzzer.
Bradford’s layup off a dish from Sydney Mullings inside later gave the Raiders their first and only lead of the second half, 53-52 with 6:55 left.
Mullings, however, battled foul trouble all night and was limited to four points in 14 minutes, failing to reach double figures for the first time in 15 games. Casey Williams stepped up with 11 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Toria Bradford had eight points and five assists.
The tournament title was EOU’s fourth overall and first since 2013.