SALEM, Ore. – After standing strong through the first 36 minutes of the game this afternoon, the Corban University Women's Basketball team (11-11, 8-8) had their offense fall flat over the final minutes in their 72-62 loss to the Northwest University Eagles (6-14, 4-11), falling back to .500 overall and in conference play for the third time this season.
"We had a great start to the game and were in a good position all the way until the last three minutes, when NU had answers and made plays that we didn't," Corban Head Coach Bill Pilgeram shared shortly after the contest concluded. "Give them credit, they seemed to have an answer every time we swung the momentum back in our favor."
The Warriors kicked off the contest on a wickedly hot start on offense, jumping out to a 22-8 lead with all cylinders firing. However, lack of accountability on defense while turning off the jets on offense led to Northwest scoring 10-straight points to end the first quarter, giving Corban just a four-point lead after leading by 14 through a majority of the opening period.
The Eagles continued to feed off the momentum they created to end the first quarter on a three-pointer as time expired by guard Esther Pappuleas by taking their first lead of the contest in the second quarter, soaring ahead 29-28 on a jumper by guard Kyrin Baklund. However, the Warriors regained their composure to end the first half on a 9-4 run and reclaim a slight 37-33 lead going into the halftime break.
Corban senior forward Holly Golenor led all scorers with 11 points in only 12 minutes played at halftime, collecting four rebounds along the way. Meanwhile, Pappuleas scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter before two personal fouls sat her on the bench for a majority of the second quarter.
Neither squad could pull away with more than a four-point margin in the third quarter, as the Warriors and Eagles forced five lead changes and three ties through the back-and-forth pendulum swings of momentum. Northwest was fortunate to hold the lead after 30 minutes of play, clinging to a slight 56-54 advantage entering the final quarter.
The Warriors would claim their final lead of the game with 6:43 remaining in the contest and would give it up for good over three minutes later when Baklund splashed a three-pointer on a breakaway transition attempt that the Eagles forced after a possible foul on the opposite end that went without a whistle, leading to the six-point swing that would prove to stand.
The Golenor jumper with six minutes remaining would prove to be the final points scored by the Navy and Gold in the game, with the Eagles converting offensively while the Corban offense finally fell flat. Despite multiple attempts down the stretch, the Warriors couldn't find the bottom of the bucket, providing the Eagles with the road victory.
This battle was won and lost in the turnover margin, as the Warriors turned the ball over an egregiously high 25 times, compared to just six for the visiting Eagles. Those 25 turnovers led to 24 points for Northwest, while Corban managed to score just two points off Eagles' miscues.
Golenor led all Corban scorers with 15 points and six rebounds, while redshirt freshman Izzy Boring added 13 and five, respectively. Nobody had bigger game than Warriors' sophomore guard Gemma LaVergne, who scored 14 points and added 13 rebounds for the only double-double of the contest.
Eagles' guard Maya DuChesne paced the way for the Northwest offense with 17 points on 6-for-17 shooting, adding a game-high six assist and three steals. Meanwhile, guard Katie Fleming was the closest Eagle to double-double territory with 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
The Navy and Gold will hit the road for the next two weekends, first traveling to Walla Walla University (4-14, 3-12) on Friday, February 3rd, for an early 12pm PST tipoff against the Wolves.
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