BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – The old-fashion saying "everything's coming up roses" can be spoken when everything is turning out well for someone or something.
This past weekend was not the case for Corban's women's basketball team, as the Warriors traveled to the Rose City and came away with a pair of defeats with the final one coming Saturday against the NAIA's No. 15-ranked Cavaliers of Concordia, 100-88, inside Cavalier Gymnasium.
Despite a team-high 24-points by junior
Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) on 10-for-16 shooting from the field, the Warriors could not overcome a hot-shooting Cavalier squad that knocked down nearly 59% of their shots on the night. Offensively, Steigleman was aided by sophomores
Tess Bennett (Sutherlin, Ore.) and
Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.) with 18 and 14 points respectively to go along with Bennett's team-high six rebounds and Tsugawa's game-high tying five assists.
The first half was a true dog fight, as neither team gave in over the opening 10-plus minutes and the score showed with a 29-29 tie with 9:05 left thanks to a Tsugawa three-pointer. Over the next six minutes, Concordia used an 17-10 run en route to grabbing a seven-point lead (46-39) following a Courtney May jumper with just over three minutes remaining. Corban would then use a 12-2 run over a span of three minutes en route to grabbing a slim three-point lead (51-48) after a Bennett jumper with 12 seconds on the clock. Concordia would collect the final points of the half via a three-pointer by Megan Padilla to send both teams into the locker room with a 51-51 tie marking the 10th time in the opening period that the game was deadlocked.
In the opening minutes of the second half, both teams would trade buckets until the score was tied for the 12th and final time at 55-all after back-to-back Bennett free throws with 17:47 left. Concordia would take control from that point on, as the host Cavaliers quickly built a double-digit lead (67-57) before extending it to as much as 26 points (93-67) with 7:28 left. Nearly 90 seconds before Concordia captured its largest lead of the game, Steigleman was whistled for her fifth foul of the night putting the Warriors' leading scorer on the bench for the game's final nine minutes. Despite not having its most prolific scorer on the floor for nearly half of the final period, Corban battled back thanks to a game-closing 21-7 run that made the final score respectable when senior Kayla
Kayla Shaughnessy (Camano Island, Wash.) netted the game's final point via a free throw for the final margin of 12 points (100-88).
Concordia was led in scoring by May with a game-high 30 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field, while Danielle Clauson and Padilla added 20 and 12 points respectively. On the boards, Sarah Eischen pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, while Clauson equaled Tsugawa's assist total with five.
As a team, Corban shot a combined 36-for-73 (49.3%) from the field to go along with a 3-for-16 (18.8%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 13-for-19 (68.4%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Concordia was 37-for-63 (58.7%) from the field that included a scorching 20-for-31 (64.5%) over the opening twenty minutes to go along with 9-for-18 (50.0%) from long distance and 17-for-22 (77.3%) at the charity stripe.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 9-8 overall and 4-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Concordia improves to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in league games. The Warriors will return to the court on Friday, January 14th, against The College of Idaho beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
