Women’s Basketball: Raiders Hold Off Hawks

Brittney Veik sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to lift the Raiders to a 67-62 win at Northeast Community College on Tuesday night.

CCC jumped out to an early 14-5 lead and extended its advantage to 20-13 at the end of the quarter. In the second period, the Raiders built their biggest lead of the first half, 31-19, at the 5:02 mark on Nyamiri Blair's layup. The Hawks responded with a 12-4 run to close out the quarter and trailed 35-31 at halftime.

The third quarter was close and at the 4:26 mark, Northeast took its first lead since the first quarter on Lorna Maxon's layup, 41-40. Central regained the lead and held a 49-46 advantage after three. The fourth quarter was also close until CCC moved ahead 64-57 with 3:14 to play. Northeast pulled to within two points, 64-62, courtesy of Ashley Hassett's layup and Alexis Bliven's three-pointer with 2:17 remaining. The two-point score held intact until 27 seconds remaining in regulation when Madisen Jelinek made a free throw, followed by Veik's free throws and the Raiders left Norfolk with the 67-62 victory.

"I was very proud of our team effort against Northeast," said CCC head coach Billy Perkins, who recorded his first win over the Hawks. "When Northeast took the lead late in the game, our team stayed focused and made the right defensive and offensive plays when needed. This was a good win for the Raiders women's basketball team."

Veik was CCC's leading scorer with 17 points while Amy Mitchell scored 13 points off the bench. Speaking of the bench, CCC's reserves scored 26 points while Northeast reserves scored seven. Jelinek recorded a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The win gives the Raiders a 3-1 mark as they prepare for Friday's game home against Doane University JV. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Raider Fieldhouse.