BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – After holding a 12-point lead at halftime, Corban women's basketball team was outscored by 16 points over the game's final twenty-five minutes in a 66-63 overtime loss to the Knights of Warner Pacific Friday evening inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

With tonight's result, Corban falls to 7-11 overall and 2-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific moves one game above the .500 mark at 8-7 overall and 3-3 in conference action.

The Warriors had four players in double figures led by reigning conference Player of the Week and sophomore Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.), who tallied 15 points on 4-for-13 shooting from the field. Three other Corban players – senior Monique Tribble (Coquille, Ore.), junior Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.), and freshman Tess Bennett (Sutherlin, Ore.) – added 11, 10, and 10 points respectively to go along with Steigleman's team-leading nine rebounds.

In the opening half, both teams battled back and forth over the opening seven-plus minutes as the score was tied at 9-9. Over the next 12-plus minutes, Corban would use a 27-12 run en route to capturing its largest lead of the contest (36-21) following a Tribble lay-in with 63 seconds remaining in the first half. The Warriors would settle for a 12-point lead (37-25) at intermission, as Warner Pacific outscored Corban by three points over the final minute.

Warner Pacific would begin to slowly cut into Corban's halftime lead in the second half, as the Knights got to within two points (60-58) with 36 seconds remaining following a free throw by freshman Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.) with 36 seconds left on the clock. The visiting Knights would get the ball with plenty of time remaining in the clock and ran a play in which Marissa Towry make a beautiful back door cut to avoid the Warriors' defense for the game-tying lay-in with 22 seconds left. Corban would get one final shot to win the game, as Steigleman missed a jumper with 10 seconds remaining which forced the extra period.

In the overtime period, Warner Pacific scored the opening point via a Katie Harris free throw before Tribble knotted things at 61-all with a free throw of her own. After a lay-in by the Knights' Kelsey Mattsen, Tsugawa tied things for the fifth and final time thanks to a pair of free throws with 1:34 left. Warner Pacific would score the final three points via a pair of free throws by Towry and another charity stripe shot by Harris, while Corban missed a last-second three-point attempt en route to Warner Pacific capturing the three-point win (66-63) in extra play.

Mattsen led all players with 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for Warner Pacific, while Towry and Cameryn Calhoun added 12 and 11 points respectively. The rest of the Knights' squad combined to score 22 points led by Kristina Schmaucher and Maya Gross' six-point effort each.

As a team, Corban shot 22-for-63 (34.9%) from the field that included an 0-for-4 showing in the overtime period. The Warriors were also 3-for-10 (30.0%) from three-point range, while turning in a 16-for-23 (69.6%) showing at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific was 23-for-72 (31.9%) from the field as the Knights went 1-for-5 (20.0%) from the floor in the extra frame. The Knights were also 4-for-14 (28.6%) from long range and 16-for-29 (55.2%) at the charity stripe in the game.

Corban will return to the floor tomorrow night – Saturday, January 9th – against the NAIA's No. 24-ranked Cavaliers of Concordia beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.