Late Basket Lifts Lady Yotes to Sixth-Straight Win
PORTLAND, Ore. –
Alyssa Case converted a go-ahead rebound basket with 12 seconds remaining, lifting the College of Idaho to a wild 59-57 victory at Warner Pacific inside C.C. Perry Gym.
The Lady Yotes (10-14, 10-8 CCC) won their sixth game in a row and their ninth victory in 11 tries – squandering an 18-point second quarter lead – before rallying from seven down in the final six minutes.
Emily Peters gave WPU (10-18, 6-12) a 56-49 lead with 6:38 remaining – but the C of I defense forced 11 consecutive missed shots to end the contest, as the Yotes scored 10 of the final 11 points. A Case jumper crawled over the front-iron and through with two minutes left to pull the visitors within 56-52, with
Madison Holly canning a 3-pointer with 37 ticks left to cut the gap to 57-56. After an ill-advised miss by the Knights,
Keahi Roy drove to the basket and missed a runner, but Case collected the rebound and stuck home the put-back to give C of I the lead.
WPU had three chances to tie – as Bailey Allen missed a runner and after an offensive board, a Mady Hanna 15-footer skimmed the rim. Case got the rebound and was fouled, splitting two free throws. Katelyn Rossback got a final opportunity at the horn, but her contested 23-footer was short.
C of I blitzed the Knights early, as Case scored seven points, with
Sophia Jackson and
Hannah Maupin hitting 3's in a 15-1 run that gave the Yotes a 25-7 lead three minutes into the second quarter. WPU cut the margin to 11 at the half, and made 11-of-19 field goals in the third quarter to regain the lead.
Case had 18 points and eight rebounds and
Jocelyn Cook-Cox had 14 points and eight rebounds – as C of I clinched at worst the No. 6 seed in the CCC Championships.
Maryah Tipping scored a game-high 20 points for WPU, as the Knights made just 33-percent of their field goals on the evening.
C of I closes out the regular-season at home next weekend, hosting Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech.