BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Freshman
Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) scored a team-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, but it was not enough as Corban's women's basketball team fell to the Thunderbirds of Cascade, 75-73, Saturday evening inside the ThunderDome.
After knotting the game for the ninth time at 70-all following an old-fashion three-point play by Steigleman with 2:42 remaining, Cascade got a three-pointer from Robin Swain over two minutes later en route to grabbing a three-point lead (73-70) with 30 ticks remaining. Junior
Monique Tribble (Coquille, Ore.) connected on a jumper 17 seconds later to pull the Warriors back within a single point (73-72) before Swain connected on her 31st and 32nd point of the evening with 10 seconds left to give the host T-birds another three-point lead (75-72). With three seconds left, Steigleman connected on the first of two free throws to pull the Warriors within a single bucket (75-73) but could not get the second one to go and Cascade grabbed the rebound and a much-needed victory.
Despite falling behind by 10 points (16-6) after the opening eight-plus minutes of the game, Corban used a 16-7 run to pull within a single point (23-22) thanks to a Steigleman jumper with 5:04 left in the first half. Over the next four-plus minutes, the visiting Warriors used a 7-6 run to knot the game at 29-all thanks to back-to-back free throws by Tribble with 47 seconds left. Cascade would get a lay-in from Kristina Schumacher with 28 ticks showing on the clock, as the host Thunderbirds would hold a slim two-point advantage at halftime.
In the second half, Corban would come out of the locker room and quickly grab a five-point advantage (36-31) thanks to an opening 7-0 run that was capped by a lay-in by senior
Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) with 18:11 remaining in the game. Cascade would quickly knot the game at 36-all before Corban used a 20-11 run over a span of six minutes and 54 seconds to grab a nine-point lead (56-47) with 11:17 on the clock. A 9-0 Cascade run would tie the game for the sixth time (56-56) before Corban used another run of 9-3 to secure a six-point lead (65-59) following a pair of free throws by freshman
Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash.) with 6:32 remaining. Cascade would once again claw its way back into the game thanks to a 6-0 run before both teams traded buckets which would set up the last minute heroics by both teams.
Steigleman was aided scoring-wise by a trio of Warriors – Tribble, senior
Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.), and freshman
Becky Buhler (Clackamas, Ore.) – that scored in double figures with 15, 11, and 11 points respectively. Connell pulled down a team-high five rebounds for the Warriors to go along with her game-high tying six assists.
Cascade was led by Swain's game-high 32 points on 10-for-24 shooting from the field, while Amy Russell added 15 points on
Senior Night. On the boards, Maya Gross pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with Swain's game-high tying six assists.
As a team, Corban shot 28-for-59 (47.5%) from the field to go along with a 7-for-23 (30.4%) showing from three-point range and a 10-for-14 (71.4%) performance from the free throw line. On the other hand, Cascade shot 25-for-58 (43.1%) from the field, 8-for-20 (40.0%) from long distance, and 17-for-23 (73.9%) from the charity stripe.
With the loss, Corban falls to 10-16 overall and 6-12 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Cascade improves to 11-14 overall and 4-14 in CCC action. The Warriors return to the court on Friday, February 20th, when they host the NAIA's No. 21-ranked Raiders of Southern Oregon beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
NOTE: Friday night's game will be the Warriors' WBCA
Pink Zone Night, as Corban will work with the American Cancer Society in helping raise awareness about breast cancer. The Warriors will be wearing all-new pink uniforms, as well as working in conjunction with the Department of Athletics and Corban's Associated Student Body Government in putting together numerous activities to help in the cause.
