BOX SCORE
ASHLAND, Ore. – Four Warriors scored in double figures led by sophomore Tara Vanweerdhuizen's 22 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as Corban's women's basketball team fell to Southern Oregon, 86-75, Friday inside Bob Riehm Arena.
Corban (9-19, 5-12 CCC) got 84.0% (63-of-75) of its points from the starting five, as Vanweerhuizen was aided by the trio of senior
Emily Tsugawa, senior
Tess Bennett, and freshman
Julia Young with 14, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Freshman
Jade Lowery was the Warriors' final piece of the starting five, as she scored four points to go along with a pair of three-point performances by freshmen
Megan Benedict and
Alli Ehrhardt off Corban's bench. Bennett would aid Vanweerdhuizen's rebounding-effort with eight boards, while Tsugawa handed out a game-high eight assists to go along with a three-steal showing by sophomore
Haley Holboke.
Southern Oregon (20-9, 9-8 CCC) got a game-high 23 points from Alexi Smith, while the other four Raider starters – Allison Gida, Krysten Copeland, Ashley Claussen, and Melissa Sweat – also scored in double figures with 19, 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Smith would also lead SOU in rebounds with eight, while Claussen handed out a team-high seven assists in the win.
After a Moore lay-in at the 18:02 mark tied the game at 6-6, Corban went on a 6-0 run over a span of less than two minutes and took a 12-6 lead following a lay-in by Young with 16:15 on the clock. The visiting Warriors would continue to hold the lead increasing it to as much as seven points (20-13) on a Vanweerdhuizen lay-in with 12:36 left before Southern Oregon used a 21-7 run over a span of nine minutes to take a 34-27 lead thanks to a Smith jumper in the paint at the 3:27 mark. Corban would get within a single point (36-35) on a Holboke jumper with 45 seconds left before Southern Oregon scored four unanswered points en route to settling for a 40-35 lead at halftime.
The second half would begin with Southern Oregon scoring six of the first eight points and increased its lead to seven points (46-39) on a Gida lay-in with 17:02 left. Corban would battle back to take a two-point lead (52-50) thanks to an 11-6 run that ended with a Tsugawa lay-in at the 13:29 mark. The two teams would battle back and forth over the next six-plus minutes until Corban held a 66-65 lead on a jumper by Lowery with 7:10 left. Southern Oregon would then score six straight points over the next 74 seconds en route to taking a 71-66 lead, but Corban continued to fight taking a one-point lead (72-71) thanks to six unanswered points over a span of two-plus minutes that was capped by a Vanweerdhuizen jumper at the 3:16 mark. Following Vanweerdhuizen's made field goal, Southern Oregon went on a game-closing 9-0 run that put the Raiders ahead by the score of 80-72 with 90 seconds left. A three-pointer by Young would be the last points scored by Corban, as Southern Oregon went 6-of-8 at the free throw line in the final minute en route to capturing the 11-point win (86-75).
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 32-of-81 (39.5%) from the field that included a 5-of-23 (21.7%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 6-of-8 (75.0%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Southern Oregon was a combined 31-of-63 (49.2%) from the field, 1-of-4 (25.0%) from long distance, and 23-of-28 (82.1%) at the charity stripe.
Corban will close out the regular season tomorrow – Saturday, February 16th – against the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Danny Miles Court in Klamath Falls.
