PREVIEW: CCC Women’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals, Presented By U.S. Bank
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2019-20 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, continues today as the semifinal matches tip off tonight.
The top-two seeds – Northwest Christian University and Eastern Oregon University – remain as hosts after winning their quarterfinal rounds.
NCU – the regular-season winner – received one of the Cascade Conference's two automatic qualifying bids to the NAIA Women's Division II National Championship, March 6-12, in Sioux City, Iowa. The CCC tournament champion will receive the other automatic bid. If the regular-season and tournament champion are the same, then the tournament runner-up will receive the second bid.
A preview of each matchup can be seen below. All games will be streamed on the CCC Portal and will have live stats, which can be found on the
Tournament Central page.
#5 Corban University (18-11) at #1 NCU (24-5)
No. 16-ranked and top-seeded Northwest Christian University defeated eighth-seeded Northwest University 90-67 Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals. Junior Morgan McKinney led the Beacons (24-5, 17-3 CCC) with a game-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists. On the night, NCU shot 55% from the field with ten made threes. The Beacons lead the CCC in scoring, averaging 78.97 points per game, which ranks 20th in the NAIA.
The third time was the charm for Corban University, finally getting the edge over Oregon Tech on Tuesday evening in the two squads’ third bout of the 2019-20 season. The fifth-seeded Warriors claimed a 71-59 victory over the No. 4-seeded Owls to advance to the semifinals. Jordan Woodvine and Shawnie Spink played pivotal roles in Corban’s late success, as 19 of Woodvine’s game-high 32 points and 13 of Spink’s 19 points came in the second half.
NCU is currently on a two-game winning streak over Corban after winning both matchups this year, including a close 71-69 victory in Salem, Ore., earlier this year. The second matchup saw the Beacons grab their largest margin of victory, 70-54, in Eugene, Ore. Kayce Mock and McKinney each scored 21 points for the Beacons, while Woodvine led the Warriors with 19 points.
#3 Southern Oregon University (19-9) at #2 EOU (21-9)
Eastern Oregon used a convincing fourth quarter to defeat No. 7-seed College of Idaho on Tuesday night. Junior guard Taylor Stricklin led all players with 15 points, adding seven rebounds. As a team, the Mountaineers boast the third-best scoring offense in the CCC, averaging 70.42 points per game. EOU also has the best defensive team in the conference, limiting opponents to 60.13 points per game, while posting the second-best rebounding margin in all of NAIA, with an 11.065 average margin.
In a matter of minutes, SOU went from staring down an early postseason exit to potentially one win away from the national tournament Tuesday night. The Raiders trailed Warner Pacific by eight with 4:01 remaining in the quarterfinal, but the Knights were shut out the rest of the way and SOU ended the game with 14 unanswered points to win 60-54.SOU averages 69.32 points per game and holds opponents to 65.93 points per game, ranking in the top-five in the CCC.
Rachel Fielder, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, was the star of the first two SOU-EOU matchups, scoring 22 points for the Mountaineers in their road win and following up with 20 points and 10 rebounds at home. EOU has won nine straight overall over SOU, and the Raiders last won in La Grande in the 2014 CCC Tournament semifinals. The teams have met twice in the CCC Tournament in the past five years, with the Mountaineers claiming two title tilts.