SALEM, Ore. – While his new responsibilities as the Corban University Director of Athletics have kept him more than occupied for the entire summer of 2023, Women's Basketball Head Coach Bill Pilgeram has been busy laying the groundwork for his program moving into the next era of Warrior Women's Basketball, starting with the announcement of his team's complete schedule heading into the 2023-24 school year.
Click HERE to view the team's full 2023-24 schedule.
"We have a great non-conference schedule that will both test us and prepare us for a tough conference slate," Pilgeram detailed. "We are very excited to start this journey with this team's mix of newcomers and key returning student-athletes."
Coach Pilgeram and the Warriors will open up their season slate with their annual alumni game on Saturday, October 21st at 2pm in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center before their season and home opener a week later at the same start time for their crosstown capital rivalry with NCAA DIII Willamette University.
Warrior women's basketball then takes a length road trip for a majority of their non-conference slate, starting with a key round-robin tournament in Great Falls, Montana on November 3rd and 4th against Montana State University-Northern and tourney hosts University of Providence, respectively. They'll follow up that tournament with yet another one the very next weekend, hosted by fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) school Northwest University, where they'll battle The Master's University and Rocky Mountain College.
A true test sits between Corban and the beginning of CCC play following their back-to-back non-conference tourneys, as they'll once again travel to Cheney, Washington to face off with NCAA DI Eastern Washington University in an exhibition matchup for the Warriors at 6pm on November 16th.
Following the Thanksgiving break, the Navy and Gold will open conference play just north in Portland, Oregon, where they'll spar with the Lions of Multnomah University and Knights of Warner Pacific University on the first two days of December. Following their Portland visit, Corban will make a quick return to Salem where they'll host I-5 rival Bushnell University on December 8th at 5:30pm before hitting the road once again.
The final two conference games of 2023 for the Warriors will take place in Lewiston, Idaho and Walla Walla, Washington on December 15th and 16th, as they'll take on Lewis-Clark State College and Walla Walla University before narrowing in on two more non-conference matchups to end the month and year.
The annual Field Trip game, which has quickly become a hot commodity in the Willamette Valley, will take place on Corban's campus at 12pm on December 18th, where Coach Pilgeram and his program will welcome hundreds of elementary school students to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center to watch and support the team as they host NCAA DIII Linfield University.
The final non-conference game of the 2023-24 season will also conclude the first half of the school year for the Warriors, as they'll travel to Tacoma, Washington to play NCAA DIII University of Puget Sound in a 2pm tipoff on December 30th, with just enough time to make it back home to ring in the new year.
Corban women's basketball will return to CCC action right off the bat to enter the 2024 year, as they'll host back-to-back weekends on Tim Hills Court with crucial matchups against Northwest, The Evergreen State College, The College of Idaho, and Eastern Oregon University.
Because of the road-heavy first half of their season, the Warriors won't travel for more than a week at a time during the second half of the schedule. While the will make the trip south to play Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech on January 19th and 20th, their next road game on January 23rd will just be a short road trip down the interstate to Bushnell for a midweek rivalry matchup to start the back half of conference contests.
From there, Corban will host Warner Pacific and Multnomah to conclude the month of January, then hit the road once again to travel north to Washington and compete against the Geoducks and Eagles for the second time in less than a month's time.
The final homestand of the 2023-24 season will take place from February 9th to 17th, where the Warriors will clash with Walla Walla, LC State, OIT, and Southern Oregon. Their matchup with the Raiders will serve as Corban's Senior Night where the program will honor the senior student-athletes who will be competing in their final home game as a Warrior.
The regular season will end on the eastern Oregon-Idaho border, as the Mountaineers and Yotes will host the Warriors in the final weekend of conference contests on February 23rd and 24th and will provide each team with the final opportunities they need to make a push in the CCC standings to reach the NAIA postseason.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will earn a spot in the CCC Tournament, which will be hosted by their higher seeds on their respective campuses. The tourney will begin on February 27th and conclude on March 4th with the championship game. The winner of the 2023-24 conference tourney will earn an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament, unless the winner of the tournament is also the regular season champions. In the event of a repeat champion, the tournament runner-up will receive the second automatic qualifier.
The Warriors will look to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season, which will begin with the NAIA Opening Round at selected campus sites on March 15th and 16th. The NAIA National Championships will take place in Sioux City, Iowa over the course of March 21st to 26th, with a national champion being crowned at the conclusion of the nationwide event.
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