Meghan Hughes & Marquina Gilliam-Hicks honored as 2012 Senior Class
CALDWELL, Idaho - Felicity Jones' 10-foot jumper with just over a minute to play sparked a 10-3 run to close the contest, as The College of Idaho completed their first perfect Cascade Conference season at home since 2001, defeating Warner Pacific, 62-56, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
With the win, the No. 23 ranked Lady Yotes (19-8, 14-4 CCC) earned the No. 2 seed in the CCC Tournament - hosting Southern Oregon on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. The C of I finished one game back of Corban in the final standings - as the Warriors won the title and automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament with a 55-39 win over Oregon Tech.
A game which featured nine ties and 19 lead changes saw the Knights (19-10, 13-5) take a 53-52 lead with four minutes to go on a pair of Kelsey Mattsen free throws. Following a pair of defensive stops, Laura Geis recovered an errant WP pass and was fouled, converting two free throws to give the Yotes the lead for good. Jones then took over, isolated at halfcourt, the junior drove into the paint and converted the fade-away jumper to push The C of I lead to 56-53. A turnover and a missed jumper allowed the Yotes to cash in at the foul line, making 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
WP jumped out to a 15-10 lead early on, but a three-point play from Tina Fakahafua and a Kylie Hardison trey fueled a 10-0 C of I run to give the Yotes the lead. The Knights would surge ahead on a Nichole Jackson three just before halftime, taking a 30-29 lead to the locker room. A Jones fastbreak basket gave the Lady Yotes a 48-43 lead with eight minutes left, but the Knights rallied with six-straight points, including a Cameryn Calhoun triple, to retake the lead.
Fakahafua had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the win, with Jones adding 16 points and Katelin Shannon 11 - with the Yotes hitting 13-of-15 second half free throws. Calhoun and Katie Smith each had 16 points in the loss for the Knights, who were playing without leading scorer Chelsey Christensen.
Tonight's game marked the final home regular-season contest for two C of I seniors - Meghan Hughes and Marquina Gilliam-Hicks.
Other CCC quarterfinal games on Tuesday will have Corban hosting Evergreen, Eastern Oregon hosting Northwest, and WP hosting Oregon Tech.