by KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University held off a late fourth quarter comeback attempt by The Evergreen State College, to defeat the Geoducks, 67-61, to open Cascade Collegiate Conference play tonight.
Trailing by 10 points, 53-43, with ten minutes to go in the game, Evergreen would slowly chip away at the Northwest U lead going on an 11-2 run to make it a 55-54 game with 2:46 left on the clock. NU’s Brianna Fiso would then score two straight baskets to give the Eagles a 61-56 lead at the 1:07 mark. After an ESC score and timeout, NU’s Katie Rozumny would check into the game and hit a big, 3-point shot for NU with 36 seconds remaining to make it 64-58. Autumn Moorcroft’s trey would cut NU’s lead back to three, 64-61 with 22 seconds showing on the clock, but Northwest would hit three of four free throws in the final 14 seconds to hold on for the win.
Northwest U would lead 39-29 at the half after leading by as much as fourteen in the second quarter and with 6:20 left in the third quarter, Miranda Langenhorst‘s short jumper would again put the Eagles up by 14, 45-31, before the Geoducks would mount their comeback in the fourth period.
Northwest U (4-5, 1-0 CCC) was led by Brianna Fiso‘s 17 points followed by 13 points each by Mariah Stacona (Warm Springs Tribe) and Jordan Asher. Asher added 7 assists to lead the team. Freshman post, Miranda Langenhorst led the Eagles with 10 rebounds, but Evergreen held a sizeable 47-32 advantage in rebounding. NU shot 43 percent for the game and only 47 percent from the free throw line (7-15).
Said NU head coach, Ken Crawford, “It was a good win against a very competitive Evergreen State team. Just an indication on how tough Cascade Conference games really are. It was a great start to the league season for us.”
