OLYMPIA, Wash. – Another double-digit road victory for the Corban University Women's Basketball team (8-5, 5-2) gave the Warriors the weekend sweep over the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) schools from Washington, as they defeated The Evergreen State College Geoducks (5-5, 2-5) on their own home court 73-63 earlier Saturday afternoon.
"Road wins are always tough to come by in the CCC and I'm very proud of our efforts in getting a pair of them to finish off 2022!" Corban Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said shortly after his team's third-straight victory.
"Our execution against thew zone in the second half was key. Gemma is always capable of shooting when we need it most, and her streak in the fourth quarter couldn't have come at a better time. I'm very excited to see our team continue to grow together and see what 2023 has in store for this group!" Pilgeram concluded for his final postgame chat of the year.
The Warriors kicked off the contest with the same intensity on both ends of the court they had last night against the Northwest University Eagles, as five different Warriors combined for a quick 15-6 run to start this game against the Geoducks by the first media timeout.
However, Evergreen State utilized the three-ball and breakaway steals to gain momentum, cutting the Warriors lead to just three points with less than a minute to play in the opening quarter. With time expiring, Warriors' junior guard Maddie Godwin hit an and-one layup, connecting on the free throw to take a 20-14 lead into the start of quarter number two.
The Geoducks continued to hit their shots from behind the arc to stay in this contest, as they were making 50% of their attempts in front of Corban's bench through the early stages of this game, with no method of slowing them down in sight. On the other half of the court, the Warriors were able to stand strong in the paint to continue holding on to their lead, drawing contact on shot attempts to earn themselves nine shots from the charity stripe in the first half, connecting on all of them.
Corban took a 35-28 lead into the halftime break thanks to seven plus points from redshirt freshman Tori Younker (9), senior forward Holly Golenor (8), and Godwin (7). Meanwhile, the Geoducks had two scorers in double-digit scoring, as guards Monique Bungay and Jalyn Sackrider tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively. However, the rest of the Geoducks had scored only five points on 2-for-8 field goal attempt conversions, resulting in the Warriors' lead at the midway mark.
Evergreen State clearly found the motivation they needed at the halftime break to jump back into this contest, as they jumped out to a 12-3 scoring run thanks to multiple Corban turnovers in the first six minutes, resulting in a narrow 41-40 Warrior lead. The Geoducks went on to take the lead just over a minute later via the first points scored from forward Lily Stewart on the evening.
After Evergreen State was able to take a three-point lead, the Navy and Gold forced another tie with an and-one bucket from redshirt freshman guard Izzy Boring. She hit her first free throw of the night, followed by a three-point shot from freshman guard Jenna Albrecht for Corban to retake their lead, 49-46 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was the period of Corban sophomore guard Gemma LaVergene, who managed to shake off a cold first half to connect on four-straight three-point attempts, stretching the Warriors' lead back to double-digits with less than five minutes remaining and becoming the team's leading scorer in the span of just a few minutes.
The Geoducks were able to keep LaVergne from completely derailing this contest, but just couldn't muster a comeback amid the Warriors offensive explosion where they shot 61% from the field over the final 10 minutes of play.
Despite a game-high 17 turnovers as a team for Corban, the Warriors' offensive consistency earned them the victory tonight on the Geoducks home floor. They shot 40% from the field, but most importantly hit all 15 of their free throw attempts, the first time all year for the Navy and Gold going 100% from the line with at least 10 attempts.
LaVergne concluded the evening with a team-high 15 points, with 12 of her points coming in her crucial fourth quarter appearance. Younker tallied 14 points and added nine rebounds on the day, connecting on all seven of her attempts from the charity stripe. Golenor added 12 points and eight rebounds in the paint for Corban.
Evergreen State's Bungay scored 20 points to lead all scorers and dealt out six assists to lead the distributors as well. Sackrider played all 40 minutes to drop 15 points and nab seven rebounds, while guard Paris Wilson stepped up off the bench for an injured Geoduck to score 19 points and swipe six rebounds and five steals.
The Warriors now prepare for another road trip next weekend, as they look to battle Oregon Tech Owls and Southern Oregon University. They'll take on the Owls (9-4, 5-2) at 5:30pm PST on Friday evening, followed by the No. 23 Raiders (10-3, 6-1) on Saturday afternoon at 3pm PST.
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