SALEM, Ore. – For the first time in six years, the Corban University Women's Basketball program will take the court with a new leader at the helm, as the Navy and Gold are less than 24 hours away from kicking off their 2024-25 regular season on their home court and ready to show Warrior Nation what's to come as newly appointed head coach Kylie Frizell unveils her gameplan on how they will find success within the NAIA and ever-competitive Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) during her first season at Corban.
"We are really excited to get this season started off," Coach Frizell detailed. "We are competing every day in practice with a relentless pursuit and can't wait to now be able to show that for forty minutes out on the court. People can expect to watch a very up-tempo style of play and suffocating defense."
An 8-21 overall record in 2023-24 isn't how the squad drew things up to begin the season, yet the Warriors were still able to qualify for the CCC Tournament for the second-straight year and eighth in the past ten seasons. They saw an individual earn All-Conference honors yet again and over half the team earn Academic All-Conference and NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards, proving that they have both the physical and academic capabilities of competing within the conference and greater national eye.
Corban women's basketball will have plenty of opportunities to prove their worth throughout the first half of the regular season this November and December, as they'll play on their own home floor in eight of fourteen counting contests through the end of the calendar year, including a five-game homestand to start CCC action that will see the Warriors welcome Warner Pacific University, Multnomah, Bushnell University, Southern Oregon University, and Oregon Tech to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center over a three-week span.
Including their Christmas break, the Navy and Gold will hit the road and not return to Tim Hills Court for nearly a month, as they'll only host three more conference weekend series for the remainder of the regular season, ending the year at home against Walla Walla where they'll host their senior night recognition on February 22nd.
To view the Corban women's basketball schedule in its entirety, click HERE.
Despite losing two four key players from the 2023-24 season, including a pair of senior guards in the form of Maddie Godwin (2023 & 2024 All-Conference) and Kirsten Koehnke, Coach Frizell returns three starters looking to build momentum alongside the eight reserves that are set to compete for the final two starting roster positions alongside a quintet of freshman newcomers. The program will feature an even split this season between upper and lowerclassmen at eight apiece, with five seniors expecting to mentor the team's five true freshmen in their first collegiate women's basketball season of competition.
Senior guard Alyssa Wyllie, redshirt junior guard Tori Younker, and senior Madison Hodnett look to lead the senior class into the new era alongside key youthful returners such as sophomore guards Lizzy Bennett and Teayona Hoard, who each stepped up last year to log meaningful minutes down the stretch of each contest. Hodnett is the only returner from last season to have started in all 29 games, while Wyllie started in the first nine before injury forced her to the sideline until her recovery allowed her to return as a key defender within the backcourt.
Bennett was the lone freshman in 2023-24 to log over 750 court minutes and made starts in 28 of 29 matchups, while Hoard was typically the first student-athlete off the bench in a coveted six-man role within the program in her first year of college basketball. In addition to the sophomore duo, junior forwards Sevennah Van De Riet and Mandie Jensen appeared in every matchup from last year in the front court and will integrate themselves into Coach Frizell's high-tempo offensive structure starting tomorrow evening.
To view the entire 2024-25 roster for the Warriors, click HERE.
All five of the program's incoming freshmen bring All-League/Region honors with them to the Corban women's basketball squad this season, as the guard-heavy recruiting class is anticipated to replace the exceptional guards that graduated and moved on from the program last May during spring commencement. Guards Nina Peterson, Kylie Ihrig, and Ryleigh Parker will all undoubtedly gain noteworthy experience over the upcoming regular season, while forwards Claire Smith and Rachel Eichinger provided incredible depth to the Warriors' frontcourt that will be stripped of key returners over the next two seasons with impending graduations right around the corner.
To read up more on the five recruits Coach Frizell welcomed to the program this school year, click HERE.
Supporters of the Warrior women's basketball program can purchase their season and basketball doubleheader tickets by clicking HERE and will have their first opportunity to see the team in action tomorrow evening as they host game one of the 2024 Corban Classic against Simpson University, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30pm on Tim Hills Court.
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