LA GRANDE, Ore. – Coming off a huge win on Friday night against The College of Idaho which secured a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) playoff berth, the Corban University Women's Basketball team (12-14, 9-11) were tasked with a tall challenge of taking down No. 14-ranked, and tied for first in CCC, Eastern Oregon University (24-2, 19-1) on Saturday afternoon. Following a close first two quarters of play, the Mounties blew open the game in the second half to win 98-65.
"EOU is a very good team in any circumstance, but when shots are falling like they did tonight, we weren't able to come up with enough answers," Corban Head Coach Bill Pilgeram shared. "I was very proud of the class, effort, and unity our girls showed tonight for 40 minutes."
The Warriors walked into an emotional Quinn Coliseum on the campus of Eastern Oregon University. Eastern Oregon started the game with their five seniors on the court, while Corban continued with their same starting five as Friday night. The Mounties were able to start off the game well despite the unusual starting lineup, jumping out to a 12-9 lead before the first media timeout.
The substitutions brought in the core starting group for the Mounties and the reserves of the Warriors. The Warriors held tough against the odds, ending the first quarter 17-13.
Corban continued to remain even with the Mounties throughout the second quarter. However, the lead grew to 10 points quickly at the end of the first half, as EOU found themselves at the line 10 different times, capitalizing on eight of those opportunities. The Warriors on the other hand, had only shot two free throws during the same stretch.
Junior guard Maddie Godwin paced the way for the Warriors in the first half with seven points. The stat sheet showed a nearly identical team stat line, despite the 10-point difference. Eastern Oregon was shooting 39% off 13-for-33 field goals. Both teams knocked down four three-pointers in the first half as well. The first half disparity that led to the Mounties advantage at the score board could be identified on the free throw line and by scoring on two more made field goals.
The Mountaineers came out firing to start the third quarter, opening the half on a 22-9 run before the under-five media timeout. The Warriors had good looks during the run, but were unable to convert, whereas the Mounties shot 7-of-9 from three. Guard Bailey Brennan was scoreless in the first half but contributed four of the seven threes in the third to blow the lead to 29 points going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was an opportunity for student-athletes who typically don't see much court time to play. Eastern Oregon played most of their seniors and bench players in the fourth, while Corban played most of their sophomores and freshman during the same stretch. At the end of the fourth, EOU scored 26 points while Corban scored 22 points, their most out of all four quarters.
Eastern Oregon found their shooting stroke in the second half, converting 56% on 22-of-39 field goal attempts, including 12-of-18 from beyond the three-point arc. Corban on the other hand, shot 35% on 13-of-37 field goal attempts.
While the shooting woes were too much for the Warriors to overcome, they showed great growth in the rebounding margin. In the first meeting between the two squads, Eastern Oregon out-rebounded Corban 56 to 25, including 21 offensive boards on the night. Fast forward to Saturday evening, the Mounties only nabbed eight more rebounds than the Warriors, 45-37, and only had 14 offensive boards to the Warriors 12. The slimmer margin allowed the Warriors to stay competitive despite the hot shooting of the Mounties.
The Warriors were led by Godwin who scored 22 points. Redshirt freshman guard Izzy Boring also had a well-rounded game for the Navy and Gold, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists on the night.
Mounties' guard Sailor Liefke paced the Mounties scoring barrage with 18 points, which put her over 1,000 points in her career. Forward Shaelie Burgess contributed 15 points on the night as well. Brennan had 12 points off 4-for-5 shooting from three.
Corban will finish off their conference slate and regular season schedule at home next weekend starting on Friday at the C.E Jeffers Center against Southern Oregon University (20-6, 16-4) at 5:30pm PST. The theme of the night will be Corban's annual "Pink Out Night" to bring awareness to cancer research. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time by clicking HERE and selecting the game of choice.
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