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ENLARGE
UCC's Mykiea Russell goes up for a shot while being defended by Lane Community College's Kourtney Parks in the UCC gym in Roseburg on Wednesday night.
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ENLARGE
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ROBIN LOZNAK/The News-Review
UCC's Siutiti Takai is defended defended by Lane Community College's Theresa Brown in the UCC gym in Roseburg on Wednesday night.
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WINCHESTER — In a dizzying moment of euphoria, Cassie Scheffelmaier posed for a photograph, squeezed emotional teammates and tried to hold back tears of her own as she and her Umpqua teammates bathed in the afterglow of their 86-80 win over Lane.
Before Wednesday, the Titans had defeated Umpqua nine straight times in league play dating back to 2004.
That run ended in thrilling — and heated — fashion at the UCC gym.
“We knew for two weeks it would come down to this,” UCC coach Dave Stricklin said.
The Riverhawks dug themselves out of a 16-point hole and eked out a late victory to capture sole possession of first place in the NWAACC Southern Region.
Umpqua (26-2, 13-1 Southern Region) will play Bellevue (16-11, 9-6 NWAACC North Division) in the opening round of the 2009 NWAACC Championships, set for March 5-8 in Kennewick, Wash.
“It feels good to win, but it feels really good, from my standpoint, that we played better,” Stricklin said. “The first 15 minutes, we went into halftime and said, ‘That’s not us. If they are gonna beat us, at least beat us being us.’”
While Roseburg High graduate Kristi Fallin scored a game-high 37 points and sank six 3-pointers, Scheffelmaier made two big hustle plays late. With her team leading 82-80, the sophomore recovered her own missed attempt and called a timeout from the floor with 30 seconds remaining.
“When you are on the floor you just have to call a timeout,” Scheffelmaier said. “I was taught that you’ve got to be smart when it comes down to the end and make the big plays.”
On the ensuing possession, Lane had to foul Miranda Holenstein, who knocked down both free throws with 20 seconds left in the game. On the next Titan possession, Sheena Cole dribbled the ball off her foot and Scheffelmaier dived for it, forcing a jump ball that gave UCC the possession arrow.
Scheffelmaier calmly sank two free throws to seal the victory against a school she wanted desperately to bring down.
“There is no love lost between us and Lane,” said Scheffelmaier, who scored 15 points and was 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. “They said they were faster, they said they were stronger. We just wanted to come in and beat them and prove we are the best team in the NWAACC.”
Kate Wilton had 12 points and seven assists, Suititi Takai contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, and UCC made 17 of its 22 free-throw attempts. The Riverhawks outrebounded the Titans 32-19. Though Lane (23-5, 12-2) led 46-38 at halftime, Umpqua shot 60 percent in the first half.
“We needed to step it up on defense,” said Wilton, a Roseburg High grad. “We were shooting a great percent, but we’ve got to have stops. We stopped them on defense in the second half.”
Freshman point guard Mykiea Russell, a Washington Prep (Los Angles) High graduate, picked up three first-half fouls.
Guard Cole scored 23 points — 16 points in the first half — and post Theresa Brown added 16 points before fouling out late in a contest that featured six lead changes.
And there was no shortage of pushing, pulling and peeved mugs Wednesday in the rivalry game.
“I am from Idaho and don’t know any of (the Lane players) and don’t care to,” Scheffelmaier said. “Every time we play Lane it turns into a who’s-gonna-push-each-other-around game.”
LANE (80) — Sheena Cole 8-13 3-6 23, Brown 6-9 4-4 16, Whitfield 4-10 3-4 14, Minthorn 5-10 1-2 11, Parks 1-2 6-6 8, Williams 3-8 0-0 6, Kimbrow 1-5 0-2 2, Montes 0-0 0-0 0, Bernhardt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 17-24 80.
UMPQUA (86) — Kristi Fallin 12-22 7-8 37, Scheffelmaier 3-9 6-6 15, Wilton 6-7 0-0 12, Takai 5-6 1-2 11, Holenstein 2-4 2-2 6, Tiggett 1-3 1-2 3, Strawn 1-3 0-2 2, Russell 0-0 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 17-22 86.
Halftime — Lane 46, Umpqua 38. 3-point goals — Lane 7-11 (Cole 4-5, Whitfield 3-6), Umpqua 9-16 (Fallin 6-11, Scheffelmaier 3-4). Rebounds — Lane 19, Umpqua 32 (Takai 7). Assists — Lane 4, Umpqua 16 (Wilton 7). Total fouls — Lane 20, Umpqua 19. Turnovers — Lane 14, Umpqua 17.
Before Wednesday, the Titans had defeated Umpqua nine straight times in league play dating back to 2004.
That run ended in thrilling — and heated — fashion at the UCC gym.
“We knew for two weeks it would come down to this,” UCC coach Dave Stricklin said.
The Riverhawks dug themselves out of a 16-point hole and eked out a late victory to capture sole possession of first place in the NWAACC Southern Region.
Umpqua (26-2, 13-1 Southern Region) will play Bellevue (16-11, 9-6 NWAACC North Division) in the opening round of the 2009 NWAACC Championships, set for March 5-8 in Kennewick, Wash.
“It feels good to win, but it feels really good, from my standpoint, that we played better,” Stricklin said. “The first 15 minutes, we went into halftime and said, ‘That’s not us. If they are gonna beat us, at least beat us being us.’”
While Roseburg High graduate Kristi Fallin scored a game-high 37 points and sank six 3-pointers, Scheffelmaier made two big hustle plays late. With her team leading 82-80, the sophomore recovered her own missed attempt and called a timeout from the floor with 30 seconds remaining.
“When you are on the floor you just have to call a timeout,” Scheffelmaier said. “I was taught that you’ve got to be smart when it comes down to the end and make the big plays.”
On the ensuing possession, Lane had to foul Miranda Holenstein, who knocked down both free throws with 20 seconds left in the game. On the next Titan possession, Sheena Cole dribbled the ball off her foot and Scheffelmaier dived for it, forcing a jump ball that gave UCC the possession arrow.
Scheffelmaier calmly sank two free throws to seal the victory against a school she wanted desperately to bring down.
“There is no love lost between us and Lane,” said Scheffelmaier, who scored 15 points and was 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. “They said they were faster, they said they were stronger. We just wanted to come in and beat them and prove we are the best team in the NWAACC.”
Kate Wilton had 12 points and seven assists, Suititi Takai contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, and UCC made 17 of its 22 free-throw attempts. The Riverhawks outrebounded the Titans 32-19. Though Lane (23-5, 12-2) led 46-38 at halftime, Umpqua shot 60 percent in the first half.
“We needed to step it up on defense,” said Wilton, a Roseburg High grad. “We were shooting a great percent, but we’ve got to have stops. We stopped them on defense in the second half.”
Freshman point guard Mykiea Russell, a Washington Prep (Los Angles) High graduate, picked up three first-half fouls.
Guard Cole scored 23 points — 16 points in the first half — and post Theresa Brown added 16 points before fouling out late in a contest that featured six lead changes.
And there was no shortage of pushing, pulling and peeved mugs Wednesday in the rivalry game.
“I am from Idaho and don’t know any of (the Lane players) and don’t care to,” Scheffelmaier said. “Every time we play Lane it turns into a who’s-gonna-push-each-other-around game.”
LANE (80) — Sheena Cole 8-13 3-6 23, Brown 6-9 4-4 16, Whitfield 4-10 3-4 14, Minthorn 5-10 1-2 11, Parks 1-2 6-6 8, Williams 3-8 0-0 6, Kimbrow 1-5 0-2 2, Montes 0-0 0-0 0, Bernhardt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 17-24 80.
UMPQUA (86) — Kristi Fallin 12-22 7-8 37, Scheffelmaier 3-9 6-6 15, Wilton 6-7 0-0 12, Takai 5-6 1-2 11, Holenstein 2-4 2-2 6, Tiggett 1-3 1-2 3, Strawn 1-3 0-2 2, Russell 0-0 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 17-22 86.
Halftime — Lane 46, Umpqua 38. 3-point goals — Lane 7-11 (Cole 4-5, Whitfield 3-6), Umpqua 9-16 (Fallin 6-11, Scheffelmaier 3-4). Rebounds — Lane 19, Umpqua 32 (Takai 7). Assists — Lane 4, Umpqua 16 (Wilton 7). Total fouls — Lane 20, Umpqua 19. Turnovers — Lane 14, Umpqua 17.
