SALEM, Ore. – Staring at a double-digit deficit early in the contest, the Corban University Women's Basketball team (3-4, 1-1) bared down and was able to stretch out a 51-45 victory over the Warner Pacific University Knights (0-5, 0-2) on their home floor in the first Cascade Collegiate Conference at Tim Hills Court this season.
"It wasn't always pretty but our passion and effort as a team tonight was beautiful," Warriors' Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said following his team's comeback performance.
"Our defense was good the whole game and once we found the bottom of the basket after the first quarter, things started opening up for us. It was important to defend our home court, and now we need to turn around and battle for another conference win tomorrow night," Pilgeram continued.
There was a perpetual lid on the hoops to kickstart today's contest, as neither team could seem to find the bottom of the basket amide countless turnovers and fouls on the floor. Both teams wish they could have that first quarter of action back for a redo, as the Knights led 10-2 after the first 10 minutes of action, with neither team shooting above 23% from the field.
The offensive gameplans for both squads improved into the second quarter, with Warner Pacific able to string their lead all the way to 15 points on a three-pointer from guard Kenna Coleman. However, the Warriors went on a 15-2 run to enter the halftime break, trailing by just four points after playing catchup the entire first half.
Five free throws and two field goals from junior guard Kirsten Koehnke provided Corban with a much-needed kickstart to crawl back into this game, as her nine points for the half trailed only WPU's guard McKeeley Tonkin who had an even 10 points.
The Knights quickly pushed their lead nearly back to double-digits to begin the third quarter, but back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from junior guard Maddie Godwin and redshirt freshman guard Tori Younker put the Warriors in front for the first time this evening.
Warner Pacific reclaimed their lead not moments later with two quick layups, but the furthest their lead would stretch this time would be just two possessions at six points, as Corban was finally starting to gel both offensively and defensively. The Warriors entered the final quarter trailing by just five points, looking to complete the reversal.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Navy and Gold would finally take their final lead of the night, and never relinquish through the final five minutes, thanks to a three-point shot from redshirt freshman guard Izzy Boring.
Down the stretch, Corban was able to win the free-throw game to begin CCC play undefeated on their home court, after being able to shake off the cold start to the contest from the field.
Corban's Koehnke finished with a team-high 11 points, adding three assists and three rebounds to go along with a pair of steals. Boring tallied eight points offensively, while securing five boards and five steals on the defensive end.
The Knights' Tonkin held the game-high in points before fouling out late with 12 points, while also bringing down six rebounds on the weakside boards. Guard Lara Guzman was the only other Warner Pacific player in double-digits by scoring 10 points, while forward Alexa Mee secured the game-high in the paint with nine rebounds.
The Warriors jump back into action tomorrow at 3pm PST, as they will host the second of the CCC Portland schools in Multnomah University (3-3, 1-1) in Corban's third conference contest of this early season.
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