BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Despite 14 points and six rebounds by junior Tara Vanweerdhuizen, Corban's women's basketball team fell to the NAIA's No. 14-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon, 73-61, Saturday inside Quinn Coliseum.
Corban (11-10, 6-3 CCC) would get a team-high scoring performance by Vanweerdhuizen on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, while sophomore
Julia Young also scored in double figures with 11 points that included three made shots from beyond the arc. Freshman
Olivia Erskine came off the Warriors' bench to score a career-high eight points, while sophomores
Megan Benedict and
Jade Lowery chipped in with seven points each. Junior
Haley Holboke and freshman
Sadie Pilgeram aided Vanweerdhuizen on the boards with four rebounds apiece, while Vanweerdhuizen handed out a game-high six assists to go along with a game-high five blocked shots.
Eastern Oregon (16-4, 9-0 CCC) was led offensively by Nicole Redd with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, while three other Mountaineers – Kassy Larson, Madeline Laan, and Payton Parrish – also scored in double figures with 11, 10, and 10 points, respectively, to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds by Larson for the game's only double-double. Maloree Moss handed out a team-high five assists for EOU, while Redd and Laan registered a game-high two steals each.
The game began with Corban scoring the first five points before the visiting Warriors pushed their lead to 10 points (14-4) on a lay-in by Benedict at the 15:25 mark. Corban would increase its lead to a game-high 11 points (19-8) on a three-pointer by Lowery with 14:02 on the clock. After the Warriors earned their second 10-point lead (21-11) of the night, Eastern Oregon scored 23 unanswered points over a span of 10 minutes to pull ahead by 13 points (34-21) on a jumper in the paint by Parrish with 2:27 remaining. At the 2:03 mark, Corban snapped EOU's run with a jumper in the paint by Vanweerdhuizen before the host Mountaineers closed out the opening half on a 6-2 run that resulted in a 15-point lead (40-25) at halftime.
Over the opening two minutes of the second half, Eastern Oregon used a 5-2 run to increase its lead to 45-27 on three straight free throws by Brittney Newcomb. Corban would pull within 15 points (47-32) on a Lowery jumper in the paint before Eastern Oregon extended its lead to a game-high 21 points (55-34) at the 13:25 mark. Over the next three-plus minutes, Corban scored 10 straight points to pull within 11 points (55-44) on a lay-in by Vanweerdhuizen with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Eastern Oregon would not allow Corban to get any closer, as the Mountaineers used a 14-5 run over a span of five-plus minutes to push their lead to 20 points (69-49) on back-to-back free throws by Redd with 4:04 on the clock. The visiting Warriors closed out the game on a 12-4 run for the final difference of 12 points (73-61) on a pair of free throws by junior
Katherine Salness for the final points of the game.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the field that included a 51.6% (16-of-31) performance in the second half. The Warriors were also a combined 5-of-16 (31.3%) from beyond the three-point line and 2-of-4 (50.0%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was a combined 28-of-61 (45.9%) from the field, 3-of-18 (16.7%) from long distance, and 14-of-15 (93.3%) at the charity stripe.
Corban returns to action on Friday, January 24th, against the Eagles of Northwest beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Kirkland, Washington.
