EUGENE, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University women's basketball team completed a season sweep of Warner Pacific on Friday night and in the process moved up to fifth place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. NCU held the Knights to just one three-pointer on the night as the visitors were held to 35% shooting.
 
NCU led for all but four minutes of the game, but Warner Pacific proved to be a feisty competitor by keeping the contest close throughout the evening. The Beacons scored seven of the first nine points, capped by an Andrea Gloss jumper with 14:39 to play to give NCU the 7-2 lead.
 
The Beacons were later ahead by six, 18-12, but a 12-4 run by the Knights over the final six minutes of the half meant that the visitors were the ones with a lead in the locker room, up 24-22 at the break.
 
Early layups from Gloss and Demarea Caples put the Beacons back on top early in the second half and they would lead the rest of the way. NCU spread the advantage to as many as nine points and Warner Pac could only get as close as five points in the final two minutes.
 
Head Coach Heath Alexander said, "We had great energy and effort tonight. We made hustle plays when it counted. From Sami's offensive rebound over four Knights to Melyssa's sprint in transition and drawing a charge at key times, we knew it would be that kind of a grind. Mel's all-around game and near triple-double were special."
 
With the victory, the Beacons (10-12, 6-8 CCC) surpassed both their overall and conference win totals from last year with four games still remaining in the regular season. NCU is currently tied for fifth in the CCC with Oregon Tech, who lost to Evergreen by 11 on Friday. Evergreen is the team just ahead of the Beacons for fourth, currently holding a 7-6 record in the CCC.
 
NCU was led once again by senior Melyssa Weber (pictured), scoring a double-double with 13 points, ten rebounds, and seven assists. Chandler Gabrio came off the bench to score nine and Sami Pitts added eight points with each junior posting a pair of three-pointers. Hannah Frederick was busy as usual, collecting five assists, three steals and four rebounds to go with her five points.
 
Warner Pacific (10-15, 3-10 CCC) had three players in double figures, led by Jordan Wilcox with 15. Lindsay Low added 12 points and nine rebounds and Megan Tullis came off the bench to score ten points. The Knights out-rebounded NCU 44-39 in the game and held the Beacons to just 35% shooting.
 
The Beacons will look to inch close to fourth place on Saturday night when they host Concordia (11-11, 5-8). Warner Pac heads to Salem to take on Corban (16-10, 10-4). Both games will tip-off at 5:30 p.m.