EUGENE, Ore. – College of Idaho built a 17-point fourth quarter lead and staved off a furious Northwest Christian rally to stun the host Beacons, 85-81, in a quarterfinal match-up of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, inside the Morse Event Center.
The Lady Yotes (13-14) won their first postseason road game since 2012 – making 13-of-16 free throws in the final quarter – to eliminate NCU and avenge a pair of losses to the Beacons during the regular season.
C of I will travel to top-seeded and No. 6 ranked Southern Oregon on Friday night for a semifinal match-up. Tip-off at Ashland High School's Mountain Avenue Gym is set for 7 p.m. (PST)
After spotting the Beacons (17-11) a quick 5-0 lead, 3-pointers from
Maddie Skaggs and
Kiara Skinner started a 10-0 C of I run to give the visitors a lead they would never relinquish. Skinner would hit consecutive triples in a 15-3 run to open the second quarter, as the Yotes led 38-28 at the break.
The lead would grow to 72-55 on a
Petra Lumpert lay-up with seven minutes remaining, but C of I made just one field goal the rest of the way – allowing the Beacons to claw back into the contest. Long range buckets from Jeni Hoffert, Kenzie Weston and Jenna Christensen capped a 26-11 run that cut the margin to 83-81 with seven seconds left, but Lumpert hit consecutive free throws to put the game out of reach.
Lumpert had 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists, with Skinner scoring 22 points, including six 3-pointers in the victory. Skaggs had 14 points and
Madison Pilster had 12 in the win – as all five C of I starters played at least 34 minutes in the win.
Hoffert led NCU with 28 points, with Hanna Mack scoring 17 and Weston adding 13. The Yotes held Niki Duncan, who scored 28 points in the last meeting between the teams, to just four points.
