EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 17 Northwest Christian University women's basketball team fell to Oregon Tech 89-78 on Saturday night.

The Owls jumped out to a 13-4 lead to start the game before finishing the first quarter with a 28-20 edge over NCU. Oregon Tech shot 71% from the field as Kristin Farrell led the charge with ten points on 3-for-4 shooting through the first ten minutes. Behind 6-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc, the Beacons were able to outscore the Owls 26-23 to enter halftime trailing 51-46.

Kristin Farrell led the way with 21 first-half points on 5-for-6 shooting from three as the Owls shot 63% from the field.

In the second half Oregon Tech was able to pull away as they outscored the Beacons 17-14 in the third quarter before gaining their largest lead of the game of 13 late in the fourth quarter.

NCU struggled to match the Owl's hot shooting hand as they shot just 40% from the field and 10-of-36 from beyond the arc. The Beacons forced 19 turnovers resulting in 13 steals and 20 points off turnovers.

Head Coach Chad Meadors stated, "Tonight was tough, we came out flat and we were unable to adjust to the energy OIT was playing at. They struggled to miss and we struggled to defend at the level we played at last night. It felt anytime we cut the lead to a single possession we would turn the ball over or take a poor shot. Our girls were fighting we just needed more stops and better looks. OIT was hungry and they outplayed us tonight."

Senior Shanay Dotson led the way for Northwest Christian (19-5, 13-3 CCC) with 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on 7-for-7 shooting from the field. Junior Morgan McKinney scored a team-high 17 points along with her game-high nine assists while Freshman Aspen Slifka tallied 11 points. Senior's Dani Baker and Hannah Eddens combined to score 20 points off the bench in the loss.

Oregon Tech (15-10, 9-6) was led by sophomore Kristin Farrell as she scored a career-high 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Amanda Constant had 15 points and eight rebounds while Makaila Napoleon tallied ten points. Abby Kreiser dished a game-high nine assists to go with her seven points and five rebounds. On the night, Oregon Tech shot 57% from the field and 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Owls outrebounded NCU 39-32 with 25 assists.

Meadors said, "We have our last road trip of the year and we need to get back to our winning ways before we return home for our last home stand."

NCU will travel to Portland for back-to-back games as they take on Multnomah University on Friday, February 14 at 5:30pm and Warner Pacific University on Saturday, February 15, at 5:30pm.