KIRKLAND, Wash. — For the second straight night, Oregon Tech used a fourth-period effort to claim an 82-77 Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball victory, and upped their league record to 2-0 with the win at Northwest University.
After Jackie Bento scored in the paint to give the Eagles, looking for their second major upset of the weekend, a 67-66 lead, Tech scored the next eight points to take a 74-67 lead with four minutes left to play.
It was OIT's biggest lead of the game.
Northwest, which had stunned Southern Oregon Friday, cut its deficit to two points twice in the final four minutes, but Abby Kreiser managed 6-of-8 free throws in the final 27 seconds to seal the victory for the Hustlin' Owls.
In the midst of a five-game road swing, Tech upped its season record to 7-4 and will complete its nonleague schedule at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Simpson University.
The Eagles held just one lead in the fourth quarter in a contest which featured 11 lead ties and nine lead changes.
A huge key for OIT was sophomore Kristin Farrell, who went 6-for-7 from three-point range to take game-high scoring honors with 18 points. Abby Kreiser and Makaila Napoleon both added 11 points for Tech, with Courtney Clemmer and Maddyson Tull a field goal shy of double figures.
"It was a great road win in a tough environment tonight," OIT coach
Scott Meredith said.
"I was proud of the way we settled down and got back into the game after Northwest got off to such a hot start. Our 3 posts (Clemmer, Tull & Napoleon) combined for 27 points, 11 rebounds with only 4 fouls against Van Loo who had only 10 points after scoring 30 last night against Southern. Kristin was on fire and Eastyn & Abby were great at the point. Our bench contributed in a big way and this should do a lot for our confidence going into the last couple weeks before the holiday break".
NU helped keep itself in the game with a 42-37 edge in rebounds, the first time in several games Tech has been outrebounded.
Melissa Lee had eight rebounds for the Hustlin' Owls, who next play conference games Dec. 20-21 when they host The College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
Grace Meza and Athena Taylor, each of whom had four three-point baskets, led the Eagles with 16 points each, with Sam VanLoo and Maya DuChesne also in double figures. Lexi Biggerstaff had a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Eagles fell to 2-7 on the season, and 1-1 in league play.
