BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Freshman Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) registered her fifth 20-plus point performance of her young career, as Corban women's basketball pick up their second win in as many days by defeating the Knights of Warner Pacific, 74-67, Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

“I thought our defense was better the second half," said tenth-year head coach Terry Williams.  "We had them scouted pretty well (and) our goal was to keep them away from the basket and our defense did this well.  The second half we held (Warner Pacific's) Kelsey Mattsen down, she had 22 points at the half and we held her to just five more.”

After Warner Pacific opened the game with a three, Corban was able to earn the lead with a 10-4 run over a span of three minutes and 48 seconds highlighted by a lay-up by sophomore Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.) with 15:03 remaining.  The Knights were able to regain the lead in the sixth minutes of play with a lay-up by leading scorer Mattsen.  Warner Pacific was able to hold the lead for the next three minutes before senior Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) nailed a jumper to tie it up at 14-14 withjust over 11 minutes left.  With back-to-back free throws by Steigleman, the Warriors regained the lead (16-14) until the Knights' Jacque Barton netted a lay-up to tie it up again at 16-all with 8:39 on the clock.  Over the next two minutes, the lead went back and forth before Warner Pacific was able to recover the lead (25-20) via a nice lay-up by Mattsen with 5:13 left.  The Knights held the lead for the next two minutes and 38 seconds before Steigleman and junior Monique Tribble (Coquille, Ore.) teamed up to retrieve the lead (38-36) following a lay-up by Tribble with six ticks remaining.  The Warriors were able to cling to their two-point lead at half, as the score was tied ten times and the lead altered 13 times over the game's opening twenty minutes of action.

In the second half, Corban came out with a 10-0 run over the Knights for the first two minutes and 25 seconds to build what seemed like an insurmountable lead (46-36) following a jumper by senior Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.) with 17:35 left.  In the first four minutes, Corban was able to grasp the lead, 49-39, with the help of Miller netting four points to go along with Bostwick's two assists.  The Warriors continued to build their lead to a game-high 13-point lead (57-44) thanks to a three by freshman Becky Buhler (Clackamas, Ore.) with 12:21 left.  The Knights allowed Corban another 13-point lead (69-56) following a fastbreak lay-up by Steigleman with just under five minutes remaining in the second half.  Warner Pacific was able to get within five points (72-67) thanks to back-to-back free throws by Katie Allen with 21 ticks left.  Unfortunately for the visiting Knights, the clock became their enemy en route to Corban picking up a weekend sweep over its Portland-based opponents (74-67).

Steigleman led the Warriors with a team-high 24 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field that included a 10-for-11 performance at the free throw line. The first-year Warriors was aided scoring-wise by Miller and Connell, who each turned in double-digit efforts with 14 and 11 points respectively.  Bostwick and Connell led Corban in assists with five each, while Steigleman registered her fifth double-double this season with a game-high 10 rebounds.

"We did good work tonight," commented Steigleman.  "What we worked on and what we have been working on really showed, we executed.  The first half was hard, but we held on.  The second half we knew we had to hold Warner's #22.  She had 22 points going into the half.  We talked on our rotations and eventually, we came back."

Warner Pacific was led by Mattsen's game-high 27 points, while Jacque Barton was also in the double figures with 13 points and team-high nine rebounds.  Karissa Boyd and Katie Allen each contributed with three assists to help Bethany Baumann and Allen's seven-point performances each.

As a team, Corban went 24-for-57 (42.1%) from the field to go along with a 22-for-32 (68.8%) performance from the free throw line and a 4-for-14 (28.6%) showing from three-point land.  Meanwhile, Warner Pacific was 22-for-57 (38.6%) from the field, 20-for-30 (66.7%) from the free throw line, and 3-for-11 (27.3%) from the three-point distance.

With the win, Corban improves to 8-8 overall (4-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play).  On the other side, Warner Pacific drops to 8-8 overall that includes a 4-4 mark in CCC action.  The Warriors return to the floor on Friday, January 16th, when they travel across the state to take on the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at 5:30 p.m. in La Grande.