KIRKLAND, Wash. – A third quarter spark ignited the Corban University Women's Basketball team (7-5, 4-2) into a road conference win at Northwest University (3-8, 1-5) earlier Friday night, downing the Eagles 63-52 on their home court.
"A road conference win is a great way to start after the break," Warriors' Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said following his team's gutsy double-digit victory at the Kristi Brodin Pavilion. "The team played with a lot of confidence, and it felt good to have a full roster contributing."
Pilgeram went on to share, "The run in the third quarter was a thing of beauty. We got consistent stops with our defensive efforts and that turned into momentum on the offensive end!"
Neither team was able to take control of this contest early in the first quarter, as both Corban and Northwest exchanged lead changes on poor shooting and turnovers before the Warriors were able to find their footing late in the first period of play. After the Eagles took a slim 12-11 lead, Corban ended the half on an 8-2 run to take a 17-14 advantage after 10 minutes of action.
The Eagles quickly fought back to tie the contest with 5:56 remaining in the second quarter, as guard Kyrin Baklund hit a transition three-pointer to knot everything at 21-all and force a timeout from Coach Pilgeram. Baklund would go on to hit another transition three-ball the very next NU possession for Northwest's first lead since the first quarter.
A couple of up-downs later, the Warriors finally hit from behind the three-point arc again to force another draw, taking the lead on a layup from senior forward Holly Golenor a few plays later after a forced turnover on the Eagles' end. Their lead would prove to stand by the end of the second quarter, as Corban led 30-26 at halftime with the game's leading scorer donning the Navy and Gold.
Junior guard Maddie Godwin set the pace for the Warrior' offense in the first half, scoring a then game-high 14 points by hitting 45.5% of her field goal attempts, including a pair from beyond the three-point line. Baklund was the focal point for the entire Northwest offensive scheme, as she dropped 10 points, scooped up two rebounds and dealt out three assists to lead her home squad.
Corban jumped out of the locker room on another 8-2 scoring run in the first three minutes of the second half, with breakaway layups coming from Godwin, Golenor, and redshirt freshman guards Tori Younker and Izzy Boring paving the way to an early NU timeout. Everything was gelling for the Warriors, as they manifested their first double-digit lead before the third quarter media timeout, as they now led 40-28.
The zone defense was working wonders in the paint for Corban, but this meant Northwest was left out on the perimeter wide open a majority of the third quarter. Luckily for Warrior fans, the Eagles just could not connect on their abundant three-point attempts, leading to numerous defensive rebounds and transition buckets for the Navy and Gold.
The Warriors settled for a 15-point lead entering the fourth and final quarter of action, as Northwest was able to bank in a closely contested midrange jumper as time expired to stop the bleeding any more than it already had in the 11-point third quarter margin in favor of Corban that transpired.
Godwin and Younker continued their dominate stretches on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor through the fourth quarter to pace Corban to their road victory, as the two guards finished the evening with 36 combined points by connecting on over half of their shot attempts. With just a few minutes remaining and a 20+ lead on their hands, Coach Pilgeram swapped lineups to bring in the reserves, who held on for the 63-52 victory.
Corban shot 44.4% from the field to run away with this contest in the third quarter, where they shot a balmy 64% on all field goals. Despite just a single turnover difference between the two teams, the Warriors outscored the Eagles 18-6 on points scored off turnovers, providing them with their double-digit lead that held throughout the second half.
Godwin smoked the competition by dropping a game-high 23 points on 8-for-15 field goal shooting, including 50% from beyond the arc. Younker added 13 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Kirsten Koehnke tallied a productive six points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Eagles' guard Maya DuChesne bounced back in the second half to finish with a team-high 13 points and a pair of steals. Baklund scored all 10 of her points in the first half, but added five rebounds and three assists to the mix.
Corban Women's Basketball jumps back into action tomorrow afternoon against The Evergreen State College Geoducks (5-4, 2-4) in Olympia, Washington at 3pm PST, looking for a crucial weekend sweep.
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