EUGENE, Ore. – It was a tale of two halves for the Corban University women's basketball team on Tuesday night in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament Quarterfinals, as after jumping out to a 15-point halftime lead, the fifth-seeded Warriors ended up losing to fourth-seeded Northwest Christian University by 12 points, 68-56. With the loss, the Warriors season comes to a close.
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"The ladies came out of the blocks really well and NCU appeared to be tiring as the first half finished," said Corban head women's basketball coach Dave Bale. "They came out in a zone in the second half and we went cold. It was not for a lack of trying as we were getting some good looks. It was tough seeing our seniors play their last game with this result. They have gutted it out all year. Thank you Jade, Julia, Megan, Heidi, and Chris!"
The Warriors began the first half well, and it was senior guard Jade Lowery (Oregon City, Ore.) who paced the Corban offense early on. Thanks to some running jumpers and nifty layups, she had the Warriors up 16-10 by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the offense kept rolling via multiple three-pointers from a couple of players. Lowery and junior forward Sadie Pilgeram (Helena, Mont.) both drained shots from downtown, and by the halftime intermission, everything was going right for the Navy and Gold. Corban shot 41.9% during the first 20 minutes of play while locking down defensively and holding NCU to just a 22.9% effort from the floor. Corban drained the three shots from deep, and was also a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
The second half was virtually the opposite of the first stanza, as the Beacons came out on fire, while the Warriors struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm.
NCU began the second half on a 17-1 run to open the third quarter, taking a slight lead before Corban eventually took it back heading into the fourth and final quarter. In the third stanza, the Beacons outscored Corban, 19-7.
The fourth quarter saw Corban still being stifled by NCU's defense, scoring just 11 more points in the fourth frame, highlighted by one three-pointer from senior guard Julia Young (Snohomish, Wash.). While Corban remained cold, NCU scored 26 points en route to a 68-56 triumph for the home squad.
For Corban, in her last-ever game sporting the Navy and Gold, Lowery finished with a team-best 20 points and eight boards. Also breaking into double-digits was Pilgeram, as she totaled 11 points and six boards for the Warriors, while junior forward Payton Wilcox (Salem, Ore.) finished the evening with a double-double effort, scoring 10 points and notching 10 rebounds.
As a team, the Warriors finished shooting 27.6% from the field while going 20-for-21 from the charity stripe. In the second stanza, Corban ended up only making three field goals, going 3-for-27 from the floor during the final 20 minutes, resulting in the in the 12-point defeat.
Three players scored in double-digits for the fourth-seeded Beacons (19-11), as both Andrea Glass and Hanna Mack finished the night with 13 points, while Monique Thompson recorded a 10-point showing in the win.
Corban (16-14) sees its season come to an end against NCU for the second-straight year, while the Beacons advance to the CCC Tournament Semifinals against top-seeded Southern Oregon University.
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