Bethany George led Multnomah with 14 points as the Lions dropped their home finale 87-44 to #6 Eastern Oregon Saturday evening.
EASTERN OREGON 87, MULTNOMAH 44: Lions Fall in Home Finale to #6 Mountaineers
PORTLAND, Ore. – On an emotionally-charged Senior Night for the Multnomah University women's basketball team, the host Lions dropped an 87-44 decision to the 6
th-ranked Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers, who clinched at least a share of the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season title, Saturday evening here at Lytle Gym.
Before the game, the Lions bid a fond farewell to
Valerie Wakefield and
Tara Osburn, the young program's first-ever fourth-year players, third-year senior
Anissa Behymer-Smith, and also honored
Ana Wakefield, who missed the entire season due to a car accident in October. The Eastern Oregon team presented Ana with flowers before the game as well, paying tribute to her valiant battle to recover from her serious injuries. Ana was allowed to shoot at the basket and make a goal before the tipoff, drawing a standing ovation from the Lions' biggest crowd of the year of some 400+ fans.
Once the official game began, the Lions took the first lead of the game on a three-pointer by
Tiara Chinn, but the Mountaineers responded with layups by Maya Ah You Dias and Stormee Van Belle to go up 4-3 at the 6:30 mark and never trailed again. With both teams struggling to find the basket in the first quarter (EOU hit 6-of-18 shots and MU 3-of-15), the Mountaineers led by only six at 15-9 after the first 10 minutes.
Eastern found its shooting touch, however, connecting on over 50 percent of its shots in each of the final three quarters. The Mountaineers' best period was the second as they sank 10-of-16 for a .625 percentage, out-scoring the Lions 28-13 to take a 43-22 lead into halftime. A 27-10 advantage in the third quarter made it 70-32, and EOU's lead reached as many as 46 points in the final period, a Kate Hogan layup making it 85-39 with 4:32 left.
--- By the Numbers: Bethany George led Multnomah with 14 points, Chinn added 13, and
Faith Kraatz scored 10. The Lions finished with a .316 shooting percentage (18-57) and only .240 (6-25) from beyond the arc.
Rachelle Tau grabbed eight rebounds, Behymer-Smith passed out a career-best seven assists, and Kraatz picked up four steals.
Eastern Oregon, which shot .515 (35-68) for the game and .462 (12-26) on threes, was led by Payton Parrish with 25 points. Ah You Dias had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds, Maren Herrud scored 13, and Van Belle added 10. EOU held a 51-26 advantage on the boards. Van Belle, Jessica Sexson and Reece Bauer had six assists apiece, while Ah You Dias and Herrud each had two steals.
Multnomah is now 1-27 overall and 1-17 in the conference, while Eastern Oregon climbed to 25-2 on the season and 18-0 in the league with its 19
th straight win.
--- Next: Multnomah closes its season with two CCC road games next weekend, starting Friday at Evergreen State College at 5:30 p.m. … Eastern Oregon can clinch the league's outright crown Friday at 5:30 at home against the Oregon Institute of Technology … Both women's games will be followed by men's games at 7:30 p.m.