BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – After sitting out the first 10 games due to the conference's transfer rule, senior
Shayla Fetters has shown her worth in just her sixth game as a Warrior helping Corban's nationally-ranked women's basketball team to a 73-59 upset win over No. 9-ranked Eastern Oregon Saturday inside Quinn Coliseum.
Even though the senior point guard will only be with the Warriors for one semester, Fetters has proven to be a quality addition to the squad this season rather than sitting out and preparing for next year. Against the Mountaineers, the 5-foot-5 Fetters scored a game and season-high 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-6 performance from beyond the three-point line. Fetters also grabbed six rebounds and handed out a game-high six assists, while also registering a team-high tying two steals in 39 minutes of action.
Along with Fetters, three other Warriors – junior
Emily Tsugawa, junior
Tess Bennett, and freshman Tara Vanweerdhuizen – scored in double figures tallying 17, 13, and 11 points, respectively, to go along with Bennett's game-high 15 rebounds. Senior
Becky Buhler chipped in with five points, while sophomore
Alison Evans provide all the Warriors' bench scoring with three points to round out the Warriors' scoring attack.
The game would begin with the higher nationally-ranked team jumping out to a five-point advantage (7-2), as Eastern Oregon got a fast-break lay-in from Brooke Randall at the 15:26 mark to secure its lead. Fortunately for the Warriors, a quick 6-0 run would turn the tide giving Corban a slim one-point lead (8-7) on a Vanweerdhuizen jumper in the paint with 13:56 on the clock. After a Kyle Miller lay-in gave EOU a one-point lead (9-8), the Warriors used a 7-0 run that resulted in a six-point lead (15-9) thanks to a Tsugawa fast-break lay-in at the 12:21 mark. The visiting Warriors would continue to apply pressure pushing their lead to seven points (18-11) on a Tsugawa free throw with just under 11 minutes remaining. A 14-4 run over the next seven minutes would give the host Mountaineers a three-point lead (25-22) on a Dominique Johnson three-pointer at the 4:04 mark. Both teams would battle back and forth over the next two-and-a-half minutes until EOU's Vintea George knocked down a fast-break jumper in the paint to tie the score at 28-28 with 1:44 on the clock. Over the final 104 seconds, Corban used a 4-0 run to close out the opening half and took a four-point lead (32-28) into the locker room thanks to a Bennett jumper for the final points of the half.
Corban would open the second half on a 6-0 run that built the Warriors' lead to double digits (38-28) on a Bennett jumper in the paint with 18:28 remaining. Over the next nine-plus minutes, Corban would build its lead to as much as 15 points (54-39) on a Bennett jumper with 9:31 left. An 11-0 run by Eastern Oregon over a two-plus minute span would pull the Mountaineers within five points (55-50), but Corban would use an 8-2 run that extended its lead to 11 points (63-52) on another Tsugawa jumper in the paint with 5:30 left. The visiting Warriors would allow EOU to pull within nine points on two separate occasions before settling for the 14-point victory (73-59) that included a Fetters' free throw as the final point of the night.
Eastern Oregon was led offensively by Tina Miller with 13 points, while Kyle Miller and Randall added 11 and 10 points, respectively. On the boards, Jorie Freeman grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds off the Mountaineers' bench to go along with a three-assist showing by Tina Miller and a five-steal performance by Korrie Bourn.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 28-for-59 (47.5%) from the field to go along with a 6-for-13 (46.2%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 11-for-18 (61.1%) performance at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon was 24-for-76 (31.6%) from the field, 2-for-24 (8.3%) from long distance, and 9-for-21 (42.9%) at the charity stripe.
With tonight's win, Corban improves to 11-5 overall and 5-2 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon falls to 13-4 overall and 6-2 in league games. The Warriors will return action on Friday, January 13th, against the visiting Knights of Warner Pacific beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.
