KIRKLAND – Northwest tries to avenge two close home losses when they battle the College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon this weekend.
The Eagles' final regular-season road trip starts Friday with a 5:30 tip at CI. NU plays at EOU at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Eagles are coming off a tough 78-74 home loss to Warner Pacific, which dropped them to 14-11 overall and 8-10 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Sam VanLoo led the Eagles with 31 points and 13 rebounds and
Livi Lindsey finished with 11 points.
Shelaine Lorenz led NU with seven assists and
Grace Meza had four steals. VanLoo was 12-15 from the field.
The Eagles are tied for seventh in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings with the College of Idaho. With four games left, NU has a two-game cushion on its postseason quest and has the same teams remaining as ninth-place Evergreen State (College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Bushnell, and Corban). NU can move up in the playoff position but a home CCC quarterfinal berth is out of reach.
VanLoo scored 85 points and racked up 32 rebounds last week in three games. She averaged 28.3 points and 10.7 rebounds.
VanLoo's scoring explosion last week put her on top of the team's scoring list. VanLoo averages 12.9 points per game and shoots at a team-leading 55.1 percent clip.
Livi Lindsey averages a steady 12 points per game and has a team-best 36.7 percentage on three-pointers.
Grace Meza is the leading free-throw shooter for the Eagles at 83.9 percent and averages 11.5 points.
The College of Idaho enjoys a 25-14 edge in the series with Northwest. The Yotes won in Kirkland last month, 71-68, led by Kaylee Krusemark's 19 points.
Caitlin Monten led NU with 15 points, followed by VanLoo at 14 and
Andie Kristinat with 10. Meza was unavailable for the game.
The College of Idaho has dropped three straight and five of its last six games to drop to 14-12 overall and 8-10 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Yotes lost Saturday night at Walla Walla in overtime. Sienna Riggle and Lexi Mitchell have been a strong presence for CI. Riggle averages 13.4 points and 9 rebounds while Mitchell checks in at 10 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Eastern Oregon leads the series with Northwest, 11-7, including an 83-79 win in Kirkland last month. Adyson Harris had 28 points and eight rebounds, Taylor Stricklin scored 20 and Sailor Liefke added 16 points and 10 assists for the Mountaineers. VanLoo led five Eagles in double-figure scoring with 17 points, to go with seven rebounds. Lindsey added 14 points,
Maya DuChesne and ristinat scored 13 each, and Monten tallied 12. DuChesne had nine assists.
Eastern Oregon is a half-game back of the frontrunners in the Cascade Collegiate Conference at 14-4 and head into the weekend at 17-9 overall after a 71-67 loss at No. 22 Lewis-Clark State on Saturday. Liefke leads the Mountaineers at 15.8 points and 3.5 assists per game. Stricklin averages 13.2 points and 8.5 rebounds.
