Niemeyer’s 16 4th Quarter Points Moves Red Devils Past Bellevue 72-63

PASCO, Wash. –The top-seeded Lower Columbia Red Devils avoided a first round upset, holding off Bellevue 72-63 in the Sweet 16 of the NWAC Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Golf Universe, on Friday night at Columbia Basin College.

Ending the night with an exciting finish, the Red Devils (22-6) and Bulldogs (11-19) entered the fourth quarter tied 50-50 after a nice run by Bellevue in the third. LCC stepped up when it mattered most, however, as Reigha Niemeyer scored 16 of her 25 total points in the final 10 minutes. Niemeyer had a big four-point play late in the fourth that helped propel the Red Devils to the victory.

The West Region champion Red Devils had a tough stretch over 10 minutes of play between the third and fourth quarters where they were unable to connect on a single field goal, scoring all their points via free throws. That was prior to Niemeyer's hot streak as she connected on five three pointers in the contest, adding six steals defensively.

Bellevue gave LCC all they could handle, leading by as many as six points in the first quarter, ending the first 10 minutes with a 19-18 lead. The Bulldogs used 15 offensive rebounds to score 14 second chance points in the game.

Both teams struggled with foul trouble as there were a combined 48 personal fouls in the game. The Bulldogs had four players with four fouls while LCC had two players foul out including regular season leading scorer Bailee Larson. Niemeyer along with Morgan Hamilton (12 points) and Kayla Kasubuchi (nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists) stepped up in her absence. Karlee Vonmoos also had six points and 13 boards.

Bellevue was led by Kristina Blauman who had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mary Davis had 11 points off the bench in just 18 minutes.

The Red Devils move onto the Elite 8 round where they will take on No. 2 Walla Walla on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a spot in the Final 4 on the line.