BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – After trailing by seven at halftime, Corban's women's basketball team torched the nets hitting nearly 52.0% of its shots in the second half en route to earning a come-from-behind win over the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon, 75-64, Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Sophomore Tess Bennett (Sutherlin, Ore.) led all players with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, while junior Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) added 16 points and senior Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.) registered her second straight double-double with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.) and junior Becky Buhler (Clackamas, Ore.) added nine and eight points respectively, while Steigleman pulled down eight rebounds to go along with a game-high tying five assists each by Miller and Tsugawa.

Eastern Oregon came out of the gates and scored the first eight points of the game in the opening two-plus minutes, as Corban did not get on the score board until the 17:14 mark via a free throw by Bennett. Over the next nine-plus minutes, the host Warriors used a 17-9 run en route to grabbing a slim two-point lead (18-16) after a Miller three-point play with 8:03 on the clock. Eastern Oregon would close out the half on a 17-8 run and took a 33-26 lead into the locker room despite Bennett closing out the scoring with a jumper.

The opening nine-plus minutes of the second half would belong to Corban, as the host Warriors used a 24-16 run to grab its first lead (50-49) since the aforementioned three-point play by Miller just prior to the final media timeout of the opening half. Eastern Oregon would battle back to tie the game at 52-all with 7:56 remaining after a Nicole Redd three-pointer, but Corban hung tough over the final seven-plus minutes building its lead to the final margin of 11 points (75-64) with near perfect free throw shooting (9-for-10) in the second half.

Eastern Oregon was led in scoring by Samantha Flett and Shaylee Nielsen with 11 points each, while Kelsea Hurliman and Rosebud Guthrie added 10 points apiece. Guthrie and Alyssa Gurro grabbed a team-high seven rebounds each for the visiting Mountaineers, as Flett handed out a team-high three assists for EOU.

As a team, Corban shot 29-for-67 (43.3%) from the field to go along with a 3-for-10 (30.0%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 14-for-18 (77.8%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was a combined 24-for-69 (34.8%) from the field, 11-for-31 (35.5%) from long distance, and 5-for-6 (83.3%) at the charity stripe.

With tonight's win, Corban improves to 11-8 overall and moves within one game of first place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference at 6-3. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon drops its fifth straight game falling to 11-7 overall and 3-6 in league play. The Warriors will return to the hardwood on Friday, January 21st, in a battle of two top teams in the conference against nationally-ranked Northwest beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.