SALEM, Ore. – The 2015-16 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) women's basketball regular-season champion flexed its muscles on Saturday night, as sixth-ranked Southern Oregon University made 12 three-pointers en route to a 90-74 triumph over Corban University. The win gives SOU the season sweep over Corban.
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Despite the loss, Corban maintains its No. 5 seed in the CCC Tournament and will travel to No. 4-seeded Northwest Christian University on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. SOU, as the CCC's No. 1 seed will host the No. 8-seeded College of Idaho Yotes on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Ashland.
"The Warriors weren't going down without a fight tonight," said Corban head coach Dave Bale. "The comeback to 'down 10' was indicative of how we have improved from the first go-round with SOU. I was really proud of our seniors and others in our defensive effort."
Ashley Claussen led the way for the Raiders with 25 points in the win, while Demi Sahlinger scored 13 points and Tiani Bradford totaled 12 points for the Raiders. In addition, Courtney Setzer came off the bench and provided a good spark for SOU, tallying 11 points and seven boards. As a team, SOU went 12-for-28 from deep, with six different players contributing from beyond the arc.
For Corban, it was senior guard Jade Lowery (Oregon City, Ore.) who led the Warriors in scoring with 20 points, while senior guard Julia Young (Snohomish, Wash.) registered an 18-point performance. Young was hot from downtown all night long, draining four long-range efforts.
On top of those two players, it was junior forward Sadie Pilgeram (Helena, Mont.) who recorded 13 points and nine boards, while senior guard Megan Benedict (Lebanon, Ore.) chipped in 12 points on Senior Night. As a team, Corban made 11 three-pointers on the evening.
In what was a very competitive first 10 minutes, the Warriors kept pace with the highly-ranked Raiders, and at the end of the first quarter, the score was knotted at 20-20. SOU then showed composure in the second stanza and pushed in front with a 29-point quarter while holding Corban to just a 14-point effort.
The third quarter was much of the same as the Raiders pushed further in front, outscoring Corban by eight points. The fourth and final quarter, however, saw Corban catch fire and cut the lead to as little as 10 points with 3:31 remaining. The Raiders finished the game strong though and won comfortably by 19 points.
SOU, as the regular-season champion not only claimed the top spot in the tournament, but also the CCC's first automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. Corban will need to win the CCC Tournament in order to earn a berth to the NAIA National Tournament.
