EUGENE, Ore. – Despite playing some of their finest defense and passing the ball around every corner of the court, the Corban University Women's Basketball program dropped their fifth-straight contest in a 77-52 loss to Bushnell University at the Morse Center. The Warriors were unable to hold off the Beacons after a successful first quarter attack, resulting in the double-digit loss.
"The first quarter went really well and I thought we came in with a great mindset," Corban head coach Bill Pilgeram stated. "The team is playing very hard, we need to find a way to consistently score and defend for a complete 40 minutes."
Coach Pilgeram's Warriors (5-13, 4-8) jumped out of the gate and showed the Beacons (6-6, 10-8) that they came to play for their first midweek conference matchup of the season, utilizing a handful of fantastic play calls to take an 18-16 lead through the first period of play, but Bushnell refused to let this contest get out of hand on their home court.
Scoring the first eight points in the second quarter, the Beacons stretched their lead out to as many seven points on their home court, eventually taking a 40-30 advantage to the locker room thanks to a barrage of three-point shots. Bushnell was 4-for-6 from deep in the second quarter, with most of them coming in the first two minutes of the period.
The Navy and Gold were committed to reaching the free throw line in the first half, drawing 12 attempts in total compared to only four on Bushnell's front court. However, in eight less attempts, the Beacons converted on all four of their shots from the charity stripe, while the Warriors found the bottom of the basket on only five free throw attempts, something they needed to change if they wanted to rebound in the second half and find a road win.
There was an imaginary lid on the basket for Corban throughout the third quarter, as the Warriors took countless open looks and breakaway basket opportunities and came up emptyhanded on all but one play, giving them just two points to show for some great offense by the third media timeout of the game while the Beacons continued to score at will.
With a robust lead on their home court, the host team was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to take the season series against the Warriors and extending their winning streak to eleven-consecutive games via a 77-52 final score.
Senior guard Maddie Godwin and freshman guard Autumn Agnew each scored a team-high 13 points tonight for the Warriors, while freshman guard Teayona Hoard came off the bench to add 10 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
Beacons' guard Aspen Slifka tied her season-high in scoring with 30 points to torch the Warriors from the field, hitting four three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Guards Aly Mirabile and Mandy Sisul added 15 and 10 points, respectively, while forward Libby Mathis hauled in 12 boards but fell a single point shy of a double-double.
Corban women's basketball will make their return to Tim Hills Court this upcoming Friday when they're scheduled to host Warner Pacific University (6-10, 4-8) at 5:30pm.
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