BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Senior
Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.) scored a team-best 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the field, but Corban's women's basketball team fell to the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon, 74-67, Friday inside the Quinn Coliseum.
"I thought we out-played Eastern in a lot of ways," commented tenth-year head coach
Terry Williams. "A key was that in the first half we did not get out on their three-point shooters. In the second half, we got out on their (three-point) shooters but committed fouls instead. If you take the free throw shooting out of the mix, then we probably win the game."
After scoring the opening four points via a pair of jumpers by sophomore
Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.), Corban watched as the host Mountaineers used a 10-2 run to grab a 10-6 lead with 16:10 remaining following a Jenny Fiso field goal. The visiting Warriors would battle back to grab a slim two-point lead (12-10) via a 6-0 run that was highlighted by a Bostwick fastbreak jumper off a EOU turnover with 15:22 left in the opening half. With the score showing 22-21 in favor of Eastern Oregon following a jumper by Corban freshman
Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash.), the host Mountaineers used a 6-0 run that was ended via a field goal by Salena Levitt with just under eight minutes left. Eastern Oregon would grab a nine-point advantage (36-27) following a free throw by Ashlee Michelson with just over five minutes remaining before Corban used a closing 5-2 run to trail by six points (38-32) at intermission.
In the second half, Corban would pull within three points (40-37) following another Bostwick jumper with just under 17 minutes left in the game. Without hesitation, Eastern Oregon quickly turned its three-point lead into double figures (51-41) thanks to a Alyssa Garro three-pointer with 11:19 remaining. The host Mountaineers would continue to hold a double-digit lead until extending it to a game-high 11 points (65-54) following back-to-back free throws by the Moutaineers' Fiso with just over four minutes left in the contest. Corban could get no closer than five points (72-67) following a second chance field goal by Miller with a mere ten seconds left before Eastern Oregon got a pair of free throws from Leavitt for the final margin of seven points (74-67).
Besides Bostwick, two Warriors -- Miller and Reimer -- added 12 points each to go along with freshman
Becky Buhler's 11-point effort. On the boards, senior
Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) and junior
Monique Tribble (Coquille, Ore.) grabbed six and five rebounds respectively to go along with Connell's team-high five assists.
Eastern Oregon was led by Leavitt's game-high 24 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field to go along with a perfect 12-for-12 showing at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Kyle Miller and Michelson added 14 and 12 points respectively to go along with Brianna Smith and Miller's game-high seven rebounds each. Leavitt led all players with a game-hight eight assists, as she fell a mere two assists and six rebounds shy of a triple-double.
As a team, Corban shot 27-for-62 (43.6%) from the field to go along with a 5-for-17 (29.4%) showing from beyond the three-point line and an 8-for-11 (72.7%) performance from the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was 23-for-52 (44.2%) from the field to go along with a 6-for-17 (35.3%) showing from long distance and a 22-for-27 (81.5%) performance at the charity stripe.
With the loss, Corban falls below the .500 mark at 8-9 overall and 4-5 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 11-4 overall that includes a 6-2 mark in CCC action. The Warriors return to the floor on Saturday, January 17th, against the NAIA's No. 11-ranked 'Yotes of The College of Idaho beginning at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center in Caldwell, Idaho.
