EUGENE, Ore.  – For just the fourth time ever and the first time in eleven meetings, the Northwest Christian University women's basketball team took down Southern Oregon on Saturday night, 75-69, sending off the senior class with a bang.
 
NCU opened the game on fire, shooting 67% in the first quarter and hitting four three-pointers as they built an early 20-14 lead. The contest would prove to be anything but easy as the teams battled through 12 ties and 17 lead changes on the night.
 
Southern Oregon rallied to tie the game at 37-37 as the teams headed into halftime. The third quarter proved to be a truly back-and-fourth affair as neither team led by more than three points and the advantage changed hands five times. Buckets from Conner Borigo and Morgan McKinney in the final 90 seconds left NCU holding a 54-52 lead as they went into the final ten minute stretch.
 
The Beacons continued what became a 14-0 run into the fourth quarter, building a 64-52 lead with 6:42 to play as Dani Baker sparked NCU off the bench with a pair of three-pointers.
 
As quickly as the Beacons gained the lead, they found a way to let it slip as the Raiders, a team currently receiving votes in the NAIA national coaches poll, went on a 15-2 run of their own to steal back the advantage, 67-66 when Ariel Augustine hit a three-pointer.
 
A field goal by Kalei Iwami at the 2:24 mark put Southern Oregon ahead 69-67 but it would prove to be their final points of the game as NCU closed on an 8-0 run, holding the Raiders to 0-for-4 shooting and forcing a pair of late turnovers.
 
The highlight of the final stretch came with just over a minute to play as Shanay Dotson blocked a three-point attempt from Daranda Hinkey, was fouled, and proceeded to make a pair of free-throws on the other end. It was all free-throws from there as Kaylynn Bush, Sarah Reinecker, and McKinney each with 1-for-2 on trips to the line to seal the victory.
 
Head Coach Chad Meadors said, "It would have been so easy for our team to give in and finish out the season. I am proud to coach this team. They are showing the persistence and grit that is going to take to be successful in this conference. It is never too late to come together as a team and we will continue to fight until they take the basketball away from us."
 
The last NCU victory over the Raiders came at home on January 2, 2015. NCU improves to 4-23 in the all-time series and did so by scoring their highest point total in over a month. NCU shot 45% from the field and hit 11 three-pointers and survived a night in which the committed 23 turnovers as SOU earned 29 of their own.
 
McKinney led the way for NCU with 17 points while senior Kaylynn Bush made her final home game a big one with a career-high 15 points. After averaging just under six points per game for most of the season, Bush has caught fire over the last three weeks, averaging 10.7 points while hitting ten of her season's 18 three-pointers.
 
Reinecker came off the bench to score 14 points as the NCU reserves out-scored the SOU bench, 28-11. Dotson had another all-around strong effort on Saturday as well, scoring ten points along with seven assists and four steals.
 
The Raiders (16-7, 12-6 CCC) had three players in double-digits led by Augustine's 17. Syd Fryer scored 15 points with six assists and a game-high eight rebounds but the sophomore committed seven turnovers include two late in the game. With the loss, SOU drops two games behind rival Oregon Tech for third-place in the Cascade Conference.
 
NCU (10-18, 7-12) improves their odds of qualifying for the eight-team CCC tournament with the win. With just one week of games left to play, NCU currently sits in eighth-place, holding a half game lead over Multnomah. The Beacons travel to play their final game on Tuesday at No. 19 Corban while Multnomah (10-15, 6-12) will close out their regular season over the weekend at home, facing Northwest (10-17) and Evergreen (0-20).