KIRKLAND, Wash. – In a battle between two teams fighting for a spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball tournament, Northwest University came out on top Friday, defeating Bushnell, 89-70.
 
The usually stout defense of the Beacons (5-17, 3-11 CCC) allowed the Eagles to shoot 53% from the field with the second-highest point total by an opponent this season. For their effort, the Beacons shot 36% from the field but were just 3-for-23 from three-point range in the loss.
 
"That was a tough game for the Beacons," said Head Coach Chad Meadors. "The second quarter defense let us down again and we couldn't overcome the fact that when they got shots, they made them. We were playing a little shorthanded tonight and we missed a lot of open looks. It's not an effort thing and in a lot of ways it wasn't execution, it was just shots not falling."


Kenzie Pedersen led the way for the Beacons in the defeat, scoring a season-high 27 points as she shot 8-for-15 from the field, adding six rebounds. Ayden Krupke added 21 points while Ellis Mastel came of the bench to score nine points with a team-high seven rebounds. Ciena Tumoine didn't find the bottom of the net on Friday, but collected three steals and earned a season-high nine assists.
 
Northwest (8-14, 4-10) were led by Kaleah Medeiros with 24 and Ella Whitaker with 20.
 
UP NEXT: The Beacons, who fall into a tie for eighth place in the CCC, will look to rebound on Saturday as they head to Olympia to take on Evergreen (0-16, 0-13) at 3:00 pm.