KENNEWICK — Clark women’s basketball team fell to Southwestern Oregon 73-70 Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.
The Penguins (16-10) held the lead for the majority of the first half, having a 10 point margin 10 minutes into the game.
The Lakers (18-11) came back within the final two minutes to take the lead to end the half 38-37.
Clark shot 34 percent from the field in the first half, compared to Southwest Oregon’s 58 percent from the field.
In the second half, the lead exchanged between the teams a total of eight times. The Penguins had their final lead of the game with 1:50 left on the clock.
“It just wasn’t meant to be I guess,” Caylee Newsom said, who had 17 points and eight steals. “Things were not going our way.”
Clark center Alexa Orcutt lead the team with 20 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Howlett also added 17 points and six assists. (Click here for complete boxscore)
“Late game, our shots weren’t falling,” Howlett said. “We’ve been dealing with adversity all season so we felt like the outcome could have been different.”
“(The Lakers) out defended us, shot better than us and we couldn’t catch a break,” Clark head coach Al Aldridge said. “We could have done so much better.”
The Lakers out rebounded the Penguins 47-28.
Clark forward Michaela Bitanga suffered a sprained ankle with one minute to play, and Aldridge said she is not likely to play in Monday’s fifth-place semifinal against Blue Mountain.
“We are very short handed for our game tomorrow,” Aldridge said. “It’s going to take us winning two games in-order to bring home a trophy.
Blue Mountain (17-10) features Fort Vancouver grad Mar’Shay Moore, who has scored 64 points in the Timberwolves two NWAC tournament games.
