KANNAPOLIS — Randy Bingham didn’t put much stock in what the North Piedmont Conference standings claimed.
That’s fine, because they got a little shaken up on Wednesday night anyway.
East Rowan, which had sole possession of first place in the NPC, lost to sixth-place Northwest Cabarrus 64-51 yesterday evening.
The Mustangs (16-3, 6-2) are now tied with North Iredell for first, but the Raiders beat East in their first meeting to own the tiebreaker for now.
The Trojans(10-9) entered the game with only a 1-6 conference record even though they went 8-3 outside the league.
“I still say they’ve got the best team that I’ve seen in this conference,” Bingham said.
Said Maggie Rich, who led East with 22 points, “They’re record’s not good, but they are — I think by far — the best team we’ve played.”
The two teams tangled only six days ago, when the Mustangs pulled out a hard-fought 72-68 win.
Northwest’s Chrissy Killian torched East in the first meeting with 18 points, including a second quarter that featured four 3-pointers.
Killian did her best work just before haftime again on Wednesday.
East had let an early lead slip and trailed only 28-25 with 1:18 left in the second quarter when Bingham was whistled for a technical foul.
Shelley Morrison had went up for a jumper, but Kelly Kluttz’s blocked the shot. An official called Kluttz for a foul, then blew his whistle again following Bingham’s reaction to the initial call.
Morrison hit one of two free throws, and Danielle Archey stepped in and drilled the two technical free throws to put the Trojans ahead 31-27.
Northwest forced a jump ball following a missed jumper on its ensuing possession, and Killian made the Mustangs pay by hitting a 3-pointer to cap off a six-point trip down the floor.
“I regret that,” Bingham said of the technical. “I was really surprised to get that one.”
Killian saved her best effort for the last possible moment in the half, when she banked in a desperation 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer to extend Northwest’s lead to 37-27.
Killian, who had 10 points in the quarter, finished with 16. Morrison scored 17 for the Trojans, who used two separate groups of five throughout the game.
“We started that tonight,” Northwest coach Scott Burleson said.“We do a lot of rotations, but we knew paying three games this week that we were going to be tired. When you’ve lost five out of the last six, you want to try something. We played with 10, and all 10 contributed tonight.”
The Mustangs made things interesting in the second half but never drew closer than two-point deficit.
East got within 50-46 with 4:05 left, but Tiffany Ingold, who had seven points and five assists, fouled out.
After Ingold’s exit, the Mustangs turned the ball over on five of their next seven possessions. Northwest increased the lead to 58-48 with 1:52 left thanks to the fact it hit eight consecutive free throws.
The loss ends a six-game winning streak for the Mustangs, but Rich said it could help East as it closes out its season.
“I think this loss is going to get us pumped up and make us realize — again — that we can’t lose,” she said.
EAST ROWAN (51) — Rich 22, Huffman 10, MacLamroc 8, Ingold 7, Shaw 2, Kluttz 2, Haynes, Brown.
NORTHWEST CABARRUS (64) — S. Morrison 17, Killian 16, Florence 11, Archey 7, Damewood 5, Wells 3, Curtis 2, A. Morrison 1, Benson 1, Williams 1.
East Rowan 17 10 12 12 — 51
NW Cabarrus 15 22 6 21 — 64
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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