Rachel Scarpelli's finished with 13 points, including a key four-point play with 4:54 remaining
Concordia Defeats Northwest Christian 75-62
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Rachel Scarpelli’s four-point play with just under five minutes to play turned a six-point lead into a double-digit advantage as No. 1 seed Concordia University defeated eighth-seeded Northwest Christian 75-62 in a Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball tournament first round contest Tuesday night at Cavalier Gymnasium.
The win improves Concordia’s record to 22-9 and sets the Cavaliers up for a Friday night semifinals matchup with six seed Eastern Oregon. Northwest Christian’s season comes to an end with a 10-19 record.
Concordia took a 16-point lead at halftime after holding Northwest Christian to 27.8 percent (10-of-36) in the first half. The teams were tied at 4-4 a couple of minutes into the game, but the Cavaliers rattled off seven straight points to take an 11-4 lead, and NCU would not get closer than five points back the rest of the way. The Beacons were hanging close for most of the first period, trailing 24-17 with 5:41 to play before the break, but the Cavaliers ended the half on a 16-7 run to lead 40-24 at the intermission.
Northwest Christian slowly whittled the Concordia lead down to six over the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Beacons limited Concordia to 9-of-26 shooting from the field in the period, but could not capitalize on the Cavs’ shooting woes because the Beacons only shot 38.2 percent (13-of-34) in the period.
Martha Taylor’s three pointer with 7:46 to play pulled the Beacons to 52-46, but Danielle Clauson made back-to-back shots to stretch the lead back to 10 points. Hope Williams’ jumper combined with Sheena Alexander’s free throws to pull NCU within six again at 56-50 as the Beacons had outscored the Cavaliers by 10 to that point in the period.
But Courtney May stole the ball on the next possession and passed to Rachel Scarpelli, who was fouled as she drained a three-pointer with 4:54 remaining. Scarpelli hit the free throw to complete the four-point play, and Concordia had regained the momentum in the contest. The Cavaliers followed that play by scoring the next five points to lead by 15 at 65-50 with 4:10 to play, and the closest the Beacons got after that was nine points back in the final 40 seconds of the contest.
Free throws played a key role in the game, as Concordia connected on 21-of-22 shot attempts (95.5 percent) from the charity stripe. Northwest Christian made only 8-of-14 attempts (57.1 percent) from the free throw line.
Courtney May and Sheena Alexander tied for the game-high scoring total with 19 points apiece. May also led all players with six assists and added four rebounds and two steals for Concordia. Clauson tallied 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Scarpelli added 13 points in the contest.
Lori Renner scored 11 points to join Alexander as the only Beacons to reach double-figures in the scoring column. Lindsey Shearer and Hope Williams each scored nine points, with Williams grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Concordia will host Eastern Oregon in a CCC Tournament Semifinal contest Friday night at 7 p.m. at Cavalier Gymnasium.