CU's Rachel Scarpelli scored 13 first-half points for the Cavs on Monday.
Fast Start Propels Westmont in 79-67 Win at Concordia
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing its first home game of the season, Concordia could not overcome 22 turnovers as the Cavaliers dropped their third game in four days, 79-67 to the visiting Westmont Warriors Monday night in Cavalier Gymnasium.
The loss drops Concordia’s record to 0-3. Westmont improves to 2-0 with the win.
“Westmont is a very solid team, inside and out,” CU head coach Aaron Christian said. “We have to get prepared for the season and playing in our conference. If you want to be ranked you have to play good teams.”
Danielle Clauson (Edmonds, Wash./Kings H.S.) led all scorers with 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting as both teams posted identical team shooting percentages of 45.3 percent (24-of-53). The Warriors outshot the Cavs by six both at the free-throw line and beyond the three-point arc. Concordia also turned the ball over 22 times, 17 in the first half, while Westmont gave the ball away only 12 times.
The visitors jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first three minutes, but Concordia worked its way back into the game over the next 11 minutes. The Cavaliers pulled within four points three different times in the final seven minutes of the first period, including 56 seconds before halftime at 34-30. Westmont scored the next four points, but Sarah LeTourneau’s layup right before the buzzer pulled Concordia to 38-32 at the break.
Second-chance points kept the Cavs in the game in the first half, as they held an 11-1 advantage over the Warriors.
Westmont scored the first five points of the second half to pull ahead by 11, but the Cavs scored the next six points to pull within five. After Katie Kittle’s three-pointer gave Westmont an eight-point lead, Courtney May’s three-point play on a layup and a free throw pulled the Cavs back to 46-41 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
That was the closest Concordia would get in the game. Westmont slowly pulled away, as the final 10 minutes saw the lead bounce between 11 and 15 points. Clauson’s jumper with 1:49 remaining marked the final points of the contest, bringing the final score to 79-67.
“I’m proud of them to bounce back and control the ball in the second half,” Christian said. “We will keep competing and work hard in practice. Things we turn around. The bottom line is we have to show up and play our game. It’s about executing and doing our stuff.”
Elizabeth Evancoe led the Warriors with 19 points, with Lisa Peterson chipping in 17 and Vanessa Farias adding 11 for Westmont.
Rachel Scarpelli (Troutdale, Ore./Reynolds H.S.) scored 13 points in the first half on a perfect shooting night for the Cavaliers, 4-of-4 from the floor, including her only three-point attempt, and 4-of-4 from the line, but she did not play in the second half. Clauson and Courtney May (Napavine, Wash./Napavine H.S.) each grabbed seven rebounds to tie for the game high.
Concordia returns to action Saturday, when the Cavs host Simpson at 2 p.m.
"Simpson is a much improved team with some new players to their roster,” Christian said. “They are going to come here and fight every second for that ‘W’.”