SALEM, Ore. – After trailing by as many as 14 points with nine minutes remaining in tonight's contest, the Corban University Women's Basketball team cut their double-digit deficit to just two points with under three minutes remaining, yet Bushnell University was able to hang on for the 72-67 victory on Tim Hills Court following multiple layups and free throws down the stretch while holding the Warriors to just seven points over the final 2:49 to play.
"Tonight was a tough result, Bushnell is a good team, and we battled for forty minutes with them," explained Warriors' head coach Kylie Frizell. "The first quarter hurt us substantially until we could find a good rhythm in the game and find out flow offensively. I'm really proud of our tenacity to be down fourteen with nine minutes remaining and then bring it back to within a possession."
Entering tonight's contest, the Warriors (4-5, 2-1) had begun to find their momentum amid a three-game winning streak and dominant home Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) victories over Warner Pacific University and Multnomah last weekend, jumping out to a substantial lead in three-pointers made for the conference with over ten made per game. However, living by the three means to also fall by the three, as their eight made three-point field goals against the Beacons (4-4, 3-0) would have been plenty to secure another CCC victory had Bushnell not had one of their best shooting nights of the season thus far.
The Beacons kicked off the contest with a 15-9 run throughout the first quarter, holding the conference's fourth highest scoring offense (71.0 PPG) to single digit scoring in a quarter for the first time all season long. The second quarter was quite the opposite of the first, with over 46 combined points being scored, yet Bushnell was still on top with a two-point second period advantage and led 39-31 entering the halftime break.
The first double-digit lead of the contest for the Beacons came at the 6:51 mark in the third quarter, as Corban continued to struggle finding the bottom of the net despite plenty of open looks that the Bushnell defense was allowing them. An even 15-15 distribution in turnovers tonight was indicative in the Warriors' ability to limit miscues offensively, yet shooting one percent worse from the field and attempting just one third the number of free throws as the Beacons (24 vs 8) resulted in the narrow conference loss.
Determined not to be outshined in their home gym, the Navy and Gold rattled off a 10-0 run beginning at the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter and ending on a layup by sophomore guard Tayla Yost, which cut the Corban deficit to 64-62 and forced the Beacons into playing more carefully on their own offensive end of the court, which they were able to do on the next two possessions.
Out of a Coach Frizell timeout, redshirt sophomore guard Jenna Albrecht splashed a three-ball to force a one-possession contest once again, yet Beacons' center Libby Mathis snagged an offensive rebound and hit her layup attempt, plus the foul and free throw attempt, to put the Warriors back in a six-point hole with 21 seconds remaining. Two possessions later, the Beacons secured their twelfth-straight rivalry victory by a five-point margin, 72-67.
Albrecht led Corban in scoring this evening with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting, converting on a pair of three pointers alongside senior guard Gemma LaVergne who secured half of her attempts from beyond the arc (3-for-6) and scored 11 points off the bench. Senior forward Madison Hodnett was a single rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards, while redshirt junior guard Tori Younker dished out a game and career-high nine assists.
Bushnell was led by guard Ayden Krupke and her game-best 18 points, as she was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe and snagged a pair of steals along the way. Mathis added 15 points with eight rebounds, while guard Liv Tjoelker secured a well-rounded night of 11 points, five assists, and five boards to represent one of five Beacons in double-figure scoring.
The Warriors will next be in action on Friday, December 20th, as they'll host No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon University (8-0, 2-0) at 5:30pm against their first nationally ranked opponent in 2024-25.
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