SALEM, Ore. – Junior guard Kirsten Koehnke tallied her first career collegiate double-double tonight at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, yet the Corban University Women's Basketball team (10-10, 7-7) fell on their home court to Bushnell University (13-6, 10-4) by a final score of 66-56.
"Once we got composed and ran some offense, we were able to find some success in the second half," Warriors' Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said following his squad's loss to the Beacons earlier tonight. "Unfortunately, we dug too deep a hole, and you can't afford to do that against a good team like Bushnell."
In a great defensive matchup, it wasn't until the 7:39 mark of the first quarter where the Warriors drew first blood, as senior forward Holly Golenor connected on back-to-back jumpers to put Corban ahead 4-0. However, the Beacons wouldn't trail for long, as they scored the next 13 points and took a 17-11 lead into the first quarter swap.
Bushnell's full court press officially began to settle in throughout the second quarter, as the Beacons forced eight Corban turnovers through the period and jumped out to a massive 39-23 point lead at the half, outscoring the Warriors by double-digits to own the 16-point lead going into the break.
After scoring all 11 of her points in the first six minutes of the contest, Bushnell guard Aly Mirabile led all scorers through the first 20 minutes of action, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the three-point line. Corban's redshirt freshman guard Izzy Boring had found the most consistency thus far through the relentless Beacon defensive scheme, dropping eight points and hauling in four rebounds through 16 minutes of play.
The Warriors kicked off the third quarter by breaking the press on multiple occasions, finding a way to maneuver through the defenders to pull within single-digits and plenty of time left on the clock for a possible comeback bid. They would pull to as close as an eight-point deficit before the Beacons stretched the lead back to 11 points at the third quarter buzzer, as Bushnell guard Kaylen Kamelamela beat the buzzer on a midrange jumper to net their 48th and 49th points on the evening.
Once the Beacons grew their advantage to 57-43 through the first several minutes of the final quarter and 7:03 left to play, the Warriors emerged from the shadows to score seven unanswered points and force their closest point shortage since the early minutes of the contest. Golenor, Boring, and Koehnke had begun to take over for Corban offensively, as the trio was responsible for the last nine points scored by the home squad.
Unfortunately, it was too little and too late for the Navy and Gold, as the Beacons utilized the shot clock to their advantage to trickle down what little remaining clock was left, and they hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the 66-56 win and the season sweep over Corban.
Golenor wrapped up her night as the leading scorer for the Warriors, falling just one rebound shy of her own double-double with nine in 29 minutes played. Koehnke's first ever collegiate double-double was a healthy balance of offense and fantastic reading off the glass, scoring 11 points and hauling in a game-high 13 rebounds, a new career-high for the Sublimity native.
Boring put together another impressive stat line as well for the third straight game, tallying 11 points, bringing down five rebounds, and nabbing a pair of steals.
The Beacons saw three different players earn the leading scorer, as Kamelamela, Mirabile, and guard Bella Pedrojetti all dropped 13 points and similar rebounding/assisting totals. Center Libby Mathis came off the bench to earn a hard-fought double-double, finishing with an even 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Warriors return to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center this upcoming Friday, January 27th, at 5:30pm PST against The Evergreen State College Geoducks (7-9, 4-9), looking to jump back over the .500 mark on the season.
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