Newbon’s season-best scoring effort, Ortiz’s complete game sends C-SC out with victory

PARKVILLE, Mo. — Addison Newbon scored a season-high 26 points to lead the Culver-Stockton College women’s basketball team to a 76-72 season-ending victory over Park University on Saturday afternoon at the Breckon Events Center.

Newbon was one of four players to score in double figures for the Wildcats, who end the season with an 11-17 overall record and a 10-14 mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Newbon finished 11 of 17 from the field, including going 2 of 3 from 3-point range, to lead all scorers. Newbon also led C-SC with nine rebounds.

Joining Newbon in double figures were Nevaiah Bell-Tenner with 12 points and Aaliyah Ortiz and Katie Webb with 10 points each. Ortiz, playing her final game with the Wildcats, also turned in a great floor game with nine assists, five steals and three blocks.

The game was close throughout with 20 lead changes and 17 ties. The largest C-SC lead was seven points while Park’s biggest lead was just four points. The Wildcats led 15-13 after one quarter and the game was tied at 25 at halftime. C-SC held a 47-46 advantage after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats trailed 71-70 with less than a minute left when Newbon scored on a layup with 46 seconds left to give C-SC a 72-71 lead.

After a defensive stop, Webb grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She buried the subsequent free throws to up the lead to 74-71 with 33 seconds remaining.

The Pirates missed a game-tying 3-point attempt on the following possession but were able to get the rebound and draw a foul. Park’s Angel Wiggins split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two. Webb was fouled immediately and made two more free throws with 16 seconds left to push the lead to 76-72 with 16 seconds remaining.

Park missed three different opportunities to score in the final seconds before Avery Oetting grabbed the rebound with four seconds left and dribbled out the clock.

Ortiz ended her collegiate career with 1,020 career points, including 806 points at C-SC. She led the Heart in assists, averaging 6.0 assists per game. Her 167 assists were the sixth-most in school history. Ortiz finished with 372 assists in three seasons with the Wildcats, which is 10th on the school’s all-time list.

She also finished her C-SC career with 229 steals and 75 blocked shots, both are eighth on the school’s all-time lists.