by Clayton Messerle, Sports Information Director
Klamath Falls, Ore. | The Warner Pacific University Women’s Basketball team (13-12, 11-9) was able to leave southern Oregon with their heads held high, as the Knights shocked the Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls (18-9, 11-9) on the night of their Senior Day festivities, completing a double-digit comeback victory to even the Knights and Owls in the conference standings by defeating them on their home court, 91-90.
Following a poor shooting performance the night before in Ashland, the Knights needed to make a statement early that they were here to hang with Oregon Tech throughout the evening, and that their lack of offensive against Southern Oregon was built on the premise of good defense from the Raiders.
After trading baskets for the first couple of minutes into the start of the game, the Owls jumped out to a slight six point lead that grew and shrunk over the course of the remaining first quarter, but stayed right at six points heading into quarter number two. Neither team could find much of a rhythm to create enough space to run the court consistently in the first 10 minutes play, but Oregon Tech held the clear advantage in the paint by dominating the offensive boards to post eight points off of second chance opportunities, compared to Warner Pacific’s two points.
The midway point of the second quarter is where the tides began to change, as Warner Pacific’s full court defensive pressure allowed just a single point to the Owls over the last five minutes of the first half, while the Knights’ offensive stayed consistent to end the first half on a 14-1 run to take a 43-39 lead into the locker room.
Knights’ senior forward Hannah Myers was the sole Warner Pacific player to score in double-figures this far into the contest, dropping 10 points in limited minutes due to some early fouls that kept her on the bench. Meanwhile, Oregon Tech’s Kristin Farrell and Maddyson Tull matched Myers with 10 points each, while the rest of the WPU starters carried the load to even the playing field and hold the slight halftime advantage.
Out of the halftime break, the Owls retook the lead just a minute and a half into the third quarter, but the Knights would once again hold their own on the offensive end, forcing three ties and two lead changes over the course of the third period of action. Even after allowing an Oregon Tech lead grow to seven points with less than a minute of play, the Knights forced back-to-back Owl turnovers and converted on the offensive end to cut the lead to just three points with one quarter remaining.
The outlook started to look scary for the Knights when the fourth quarter opened up, as the Owls kicked off the scoring on a 12-5 run, leading to the first double-digit lead of the game with just five minutes remaining. Knights’ Head Coach Matt Gregg was concerned with his team’s energy to begin the final quarter, sharing after the game, “When we began the third and fourth, we had zero energy for the first five minutes of each quarter.”
“After that, they turned it up played really hard on both ends,” Coach Gregg went on to share, as his Knights’ went on a 12-2 run over the last five minutes of regulation, and nearly had the opportunity to hold the ball for the final attempt. However, despite the disadvantage on defense, the WPU defense stood resilient, and forced the overtime period they worked so hard to achieve.
The two evenly matched squads began the overtime period trading baskets on each end of the floor, before Oregon Tech stretched back-to-back baskets into a four point lead with just over three minutes remaining.
However, the Knights defense would once again prove to be the deciding factor in tonight’s contest, as the OIT jumper with 3:19 remaining in overtime would be the last made field goal of the evening for the Owls, as Warner Pacific held them scoreless for the last 3:18 of the game.
That final remaining second nearly led to a second overtime period, as the late game heroics by the Knights was almost spoiled by a foul committed by WPU with 0.1 remaining on the clock, with Warner Pacific leading 91-89.
Oregon Tech’s freshman star forward Shelby Blodgett stepped to the line, needing to hit both of her free throws to extend the contest. The first shot nearly rattled out after hitting the front of the rim, but bounced around to find the bottom of the net. Unfortunately for the home fans, the nerves from the first free throw might have had an influence in the second attempt, as Blodgett’s second free throw clanged off the right side of the rim, providing Warner Pacific with that coveted road victory, 91-90.
Following the conclusion of the overtime madness, Coach Gregg shared, “I’m super proud about their efforts out there tonight. We had great output from Hannah and Lynden, and then Labrea came off the bench to make some huge plays for us. Just all around a great game from them.”
Despite sitting a majority of the third and fourth quarters, Myers finished the evening with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field, hauling in five rebounds and nabbing a pair of assists along the way. Senior guard Lynden Harry continues to impress from the perimeter, hitting three of her eight three-point attempts to score 23 points on pump-fake driving layups that had the OIT defenders reaching all night long. Senior guard Labrea Denson came off the bench to provide Coach Gregg with some crucial minutes down the stretch, scoring a season-high 11 points on 80% field goal percentage, while hitting two of her three late-game free throw attempts.
Farrell completed her evening with a game-high 25 points, splashing 8-of-11 three-point attempts to lead the team in attempts and makes. Blodgett, who had been held scoreless through the first half, turned things around at halftime to finish with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the only double-double of the evening.
