Raiders fall against WPU, face Knights again in Tuesday's quarterfinals
SOU Sports Information
CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
TUESDAY'S QUARTERFINALS
No. 8 Northwest (Wash.) at No. 1 Northwest Christian
No. 7 College of Idaho at No. 2 Eastern Oregon
No. 6 Warner Pacific at No. 3 Southern Oregon
No. 5 Corban at No. 4 Oregon Tech
ASHLAND – Reserve guard Courtney Jackson scored 16 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter to bring Warner Pacific back for a 79-73 win against Southern Oregon in the Cascade Conference regular-season finale Saturday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The Raiders won't have to wait long to get another shot.
The win gave the Knights (13-15 overall, 10-10 CCC) the No. 6 seed in next week's CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank. The Raiders (18-9, 14-6) were already locked into the No. 3 seed when the night began and will therefore host WPU again at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the quarterfinal round.
The winner will advance to Friday's semifinals, which the top two remaining seeds will host. Northwest Christian, after clinching the regular-season title outright with a win over Eastern Oregon on Saturday, owns the tournament's No. 1 seed and EOU is No. 2.
WPU had dropped five of its previous seven games and was down 64-57 after a pair of Dominique Harding free throws with 7:37 left before staging a 12-2 run started by five straight points from Jackson. Darbi Pink's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Knights their first lead of the period at 67-66 with 4:49 left, and Jackson followed by sinking a jumper following a defensive stop.
Jackson put the game away by hitting all eight of her free throws in the period. She shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range in the game and Pink went for 18 points, four assists and two steals on 7-of-12 shooting.
WPU outscored SOU 25-13 in the fourth quarter, holding the Raiders to 4-of-14 shooting.
Harding led three Raiders in double figures with 17 points and logged her first career double-double with 11 rebounds, also adding three steals. Kami Walk recorded 15 points and seven boards, Delaney Sparling scored 14 with four triples and Syd'Nee Fryer amassed seven points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
The lead changed hands eight times. Kalei Iwami's 3-pointer midway through the third provided SOU with its biggest advantage at 52-42. She shot 3-of-5 from deep on the night.
Northwest Christian earned the CCC's first automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament by capturing the title. The second auto bid will go to the tourney champion – unless NCU repeats, in which case it will go to the other finalist.
The tourney is not bracketed, meaning the highest remaining seed will face the lowest remaining seed in the semis. The title game is slated for March 2.