BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – One night after taking a nationally-ranked team to overtime, Corban's women's basketball team could not overcome the NAIA's No. 9-ranked and hot shooting Mountaineers from Eastern Oregon falling 73-57 Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 3-14 overall and 0-7 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 17-2 overall and remains undefeated in league games at 8-0.
The senior duo of
Tess Bennett and
Emily Tsugawa combined to score 28 points, as Bennett dropped in a team-high 15 points to go along with 13 by Tsugawa. Sophomore
Danielle Vanderstoel came off the Warriors' bench to grab a game and career-high 11 rebounds, while Tsugawa dished out a game-high six assists to go along with a game-high five steals.
A back-and-forth game over the opening nine-plus minutes would begin to get away from the Warriors thanks to a 10-2 run by Eastern Oregon over a span of two minutes that would push the Mountaineers lead from two points (20-18) to 10 points (30-20) on a pair of free throws by Brooke Randall with 7:56 on the clock. The nationally-ranked Mountaineers would increase their lead to as much as 14 points (42-28) at the 1:36 mark on a lay-in by Korrie Bourn, as Corban cut the deficit to 10 points (42-32) at halftime on a buzzer-beating jumper by sophomore Tara Vanweerdhuizen.
The second half would begin with Eastern Oregon quickly increasing its lead to 17 points (53-36) via an opening 11-4 run over the first four-plus minutes. Corban would not get any closer for the remainder of the game, as the visiting Mountaineers grabbed a game-high lead of 23 points (63-40) on a three-pointer by Kelsea Hurliman at the 9:43 mark. Corban would cut the difference to 15 points (72-57) with exactly 60 seconds left when freshman
Vanessa Cagle hit a three-pointer from the top of the key, as Eastern Oregon settled for the 16-point win (73-57).
Hurliman would lead Eastern Oregon with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field that included a 7-of-10 performance from beyond the three-point arc, while three other Mountaineers – Bourn, Randall, and Nicole Redd – also scored in double figures with 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Chayla Jones would pull down a team-high nine rebounds for Eastern Oregon, while Redd and Randall handed out a team-best four assists each.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 21-for-63 (33.3%) from the field that included a 6-for-20 (30.0%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 9-of-10 (90.0%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was a combined 25-for-64 (39.1%) from the field, 11-of-26 (42.3%) from long distance, and 12-of-17 (70.6%) at the charity stripe. The visiting Mountaineers knocked down 8-of-13 (61.5%) of their shots from beyond the arc in the first half before going cold (3-of-13) in the second half.
Corban will return to action on Friday, January 11th, against the Knights of Warner Pacific beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside C.C. Perry Gymnasium in Portland.
