CALDWELL, Idaho – After enduring a 5-24 season full of injuries and off-court struggles, the Corban University Women's Basketball team (12-13, 9-10) has rebounded in the 2022-23 season to clinch a playoff spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament following a gritty 65-54 road victory over The College of Idaho Yotes (13-12, 8-11) earlier tonight.
"That was a big road win and one we needed to stay where we are in the standings," Corban Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said shortly after his team's crucial victory to return to the NAIA postseason.
"The team did a great job of playing through the runs and defending/rebounding throughout the game. Holly really showed up tonight and was dominant in the paint at both ends," Pilgeram elaborated.
Playing in a hostile road environment, the Warriors needed to find success early on the offensive end of the court and keep the momentum throughout the game if they had any chance of grinding out a win at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. The first half of that mentality became truth for the Navy and Gold in the first quarter, as Corban accumulated a 9-2 lead in the first five minutes thanks to three-straight layups underneath and then a three-pointer from junior guard Maddie Godwin to set the pace of play for the Warriors.
The Yotes battled back to keep the margin razor thin to end the first quarter, ending the period on a 10-8 run to give the Warriors a 17-12 lead on C of I's home floor.
Corban's offense remained red-hot to open the second quarter, outscoring the Yotes 14-3 and seemingly couldn't miss to take a commanding 31-15 lead. However, the momentum the Warriors had built suddenly turned to dust before their very eyes, as the Yotes ended the half on a 15-2 scoring run to trail by only three points at the halftime break, 33-30 in favor of Corban.
Godwin and Golenor paced the way for the Warriors through the first 20 minutes of play, each scoring 10 points and allowing junior guard Kirsten Koehnke to set up the offense with four points, an assist, and a game-high six rebounds. Four different players for C of I had six or more points for the Yotes, led by forward Sierra Riggle who had eight points and three rebounds.
College of Idaho continued to take advantage of the scoring drought from the Warriors to earn their first lead of the evening, hitting a deep three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to lead 35-33 in front of their home crowd. The Navy and Gold refused to go down without a fight, as they tied the game on several occasions and reclaimed their lead over the final three minutes of the third quarter thanks to the work of Godwin, Golenor, and sophomore guard Gemma LaVergne, who all scored baskets and at the free-throw line to see their team to a 47-40 lead with ten minutes to play.
The Warriors reached double-digits once again to open the fourth quarter, with four different Corban student-athletes getting in on the scoring action to take a 54-44 advantage in a must-win game for both squads. Despite the hot-and-cold offensive success for the Navy and Gold throughout the game, College of Idaho continued to hang around with their own up-and-down conversion rate, as the Yotes trailed 56-49 with less than four minutes remaining and a timeout coming from Coach Pilgeram.
Despite the Warriors and Yotes battling back-and-forth, the hometown team could not find enough consistency to fend off Corban from taking the season sweep on their own court, propelling the Navy and Gold back to the postseason and securing a spot in the CCC Playoffs with a 65-54 win.
Only eight turnovers all night long helped give the Warriors in the incredible road win, their lowest in a single game this season that was highly crucial to their success on both the offensive and defensive end this evening. The Yotes managed just two points from their bench players tonight, while Corban had 13 points off the bench to lead them to victory.
Golenor tallied a career-high 26 points tonight for the Warriors on 12-for-16 on field goals, falling just one board shy of a double-double to help her team earn the road win in Caldwell. Godwin returned after a scary fall in the third quarter to score 15 points, dish out four assists, and snag four steals. Finishing with a team-high 11 rebounds was Koehnke, scoring six points dealing a pair of assists as well.
Guard Lexi Mitchell rebounded in the second half to finish with a 19-point and 12-board double-double for the Yotes, one of only two C of I players to finish with double-digit scoring numbers. Guard Riley Froth was the only other College of Idaho student-athlete in double figures with 11 points and three rebounds.
Corban will travel to La Grande, Oregon for their final road contest of the regular season, as the No. 14 Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers (23-2, 18-1) will put their first place position on the line during their Senior Day festivities.
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