SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University women's basketball team had four players score in double figures in a hard-fought Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) loss, 86-77, against the Lady Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

"I thought we played very hard and it was a really competitive game against a good team," said head coach Bill Pilgeram. "It was anyone's game in the fourth quarter and they were able to make more plays down the stretch. We will come back tomorrow with some adjustments and take advantage of the opportunity to play OIT again."

Halle Wright led all scorers with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, while hitting 9-of-11 free throws in the process. Wright was aided by a trio of Warriors – Shaelie Burgess, Holly Golenor, and Gemma Lavergne – who scored 17, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Wright also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds with Burgess and Golenor aiding with six and five rebounds, respectively. Wright also teamed with Karlie Gerlinger to hand out a team-best four assists each, while Burgess registered a pair of steals.

In the opening four minutes of the game, Oregon Tech jumped out to a 7-2 lead on back-to-back free throws by Courtney Clemmer. Corban battled back via a 5-0 run to tie the game at 7-all on a jumper by Lavergne with 4:15 on the clock. OIT's Emma McKenney answered back with a 6-0 run of her own on two straight three-pointers, as the Lady Owls went ahead 13-7 with 3:18 left. Corban would get within a single point (13-12) on a fast break lay-in by Lee Audrey Norris before Oregon Tech closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run resulting in a 19-12 lead.

Quarter #2 began with Oregon Tech extended its lead to as much as eight points (26-18) before Corban used a 10-2 run to tie the score at 28-all on a Lavergne jumper with 3:36 left in the opening half. Both teams traded baskets over the next two-and-a-half minutes until Oregon Tech closed the first 20 minutes of play on a 4-0 run resulting in a 37-33 lead at halftime.

Out of the locker room, Corban used an 8-3 run to pull ahead 41-40 on back-to-back free throws by Burgess with 7:17 on the clock. Neither team would lead by more than four points over the next six minutes until Oregon Tech once again closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to secure a six-point advantage (60-54) heading into the game's final 10 minutes of action.

The fourth quarter began with Corban scoring six of the first eight points to pull within a single bucket (62-60) on a jumper by Golenor at the 8:20 mark. The Navy and Gold would get within two points twice more, but were never able to get any closer. Over the final 1:21 of the game, Corban was forced to foul and Oregon Tech hit 10-of-11 free throws to secure the victory, 86-77.

Oregon Tech was led offensively by Clemmer with 15 points, while five other Lady Owls – McKinney, Beth Derner, Maddyson Tull, Melissa Lee, and Abby Kreiser – also scored in double figures with 14, 13, 12, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Clemmer also led OIT's rebounding efforts with a game-high eight boards, while Lee tallied seven rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.

Both teams will battle it out once again tomorrow – Saturday, March 27 – beginning at noon inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.

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