SALEM, Ore. – Despite a 30-plus margin of victory for the ranked opponent to enter C.E. Jeffers Sports Center tonight the last time these two teams met in Ashland, the Corban University Women's Basketball team (12-15, 9-12) did not go down so easily this time to the RV Southern Oregon University Raiders (21-6, 17-4), dropping their penultimate regular season contest 73-64 earlier this evening after four intense quarters of play.
"We battled for a full 40 minutes tonight and put ourselves in a great position to win down the stretch," Corban Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said following his team's narrow defeat.
"The team did an outstanding job of adjusting and following the game plan after our first game at Ashland. Outrebounding them and only having 12 turnovers were both contributors to a great team effort. A big difference was them getting to the free throw line more, but our defense really made them earn everything all game," Pilgeram elaborated.
In their initial matchup earlier this season, the Warriors struggled with the physicality and size advantage the Raiders hold in multiple areas of their lineup, scoring at will to take a healthy 71-34 victory on their home floor. However, a different mentality tonight by the Corban Women's Basketball team showed that there isn't as much separating these two teams than previously considered.
After SOU built a 13-7 lead through the first six minutes of play tonight, sophomore guard Gemma LaVergne took it upon herself to lead the charge back to a tied game, as she splashed back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 13-all. Raiders' forward Mallory Williams and redshirt freshman Tori Younker exchanged deep shots in the closing seconds to create a first quarter stalemate score, with neither team willing to budge, 16-16.
The Warriors were able to lead the visiting Raiders on multiple occasions throughout the second quarter, but a late rally by Southern Oregon resulted in a 38-31 halftime score that almost got away from Corban. They were able to go shot-for-shot down the stretch, but the 11-3 scoring run by SOU from the midpoint of the second quarter to the final two minutes caused the separation they needed to lead by seven at the break.
Younker led all Corban players with 11 first half points, snagging a pair of steals as well to show off the flashy pink jerseys for the Warriors' annual Pink Out game. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon guard Brianna Phiakhamngon had scored 13 points and added two assists to lead the No. 3-seeded Raiders.
Corban bent but didn't break to start the second half, allowing SOU to come a single point from a double-digit lead before roaring back to close the gap over the final eight minutes of the third quarter, trailing by only a single bucket before guard Yasmine Ahllamara dropped an and-one bucket plus the free throw with 0.7 remaining on the clock, sending everyone at Tim Hills Court to the fourth quarter with a 52-47 margin in favor of Southern Oregon.
The final quarter was a game of runs for both teams, with the Warriors closing the gap on multiple occasions, only for the Raiders to stretch the lead back to six or seven points. The closest the Navy and Gold would come to tying this game up was with a two-point deficit with 4:54 to play, but Raiders' forward Kami Walk took over the final five minutes to secure the road victory for her team, 73-64 posting as the final score.
With the victory, the Raiders completely lock up the No. 3 seed in the CCC Tournament, while the Warriors are now tied with The College of Idaho Yotes for the No. 6 seed. Should the Yotes and Warriors finish tied after tomorrow's results, Corban will earn the higher seed after sweeping the season series from C of I.
Corban senior forward Holly Golenor came to play this weekend in the final home series of her career, scoring a team-high 19 points and adding five rebounds and a pair of assists along the way. All 11 of Younker's points came in the first half, while junior guard Kirsten Koehnke added six points, a team-high nine rebounds, and tied the game-high in assist with four dimes.
Walk stole the show from the Warriors in the second half, finishing with a game-high 24 points and earning 13 shots from the free throw line. She added 10 rebounds to secure a double-double, while Phiakhamngon tallied 21 points and dished out four assists.
The final regular season game and Senior Day are both on tap for the Corban Women's Basketball team tomorrow, as they'll host Oregon Tech (19-8, 15-6), who has already locked their spot in as the No. 4-seeded team in the CCC playoffs, as the Warriors need a win to force a rematch with the Raiders next Wednesday in Ashland. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time by clicking HERE and selecting the game of choice.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l Snapchat l YouTube l Email
Download our App: iOS (iPhone/iPad) l Android
