SALEM, Ore. – Hitting over half of their three-point attempts on the evening allowed the Corban University Women's Basketball team to secure a 73-58 victory on their home court against The Evergreen State College Geoducks, as they led for all but one possession of tonight's matchup to kick their one-game losing skid to the curb.
"Tonight was a lot of fun, as things become a lot easier when the ball goes through the net," Warriors' head coach Kylie Frizell joked earlier this evening. "We flowed well on offense tonight to work the ball and always get great shots. LoLo and Tori both shot very well. We talked at halftime about how we were playing pretty efficiently, but needed to start out the third quarter by blowing this game up. They responded well and went out and executed."
Returning to their home gymnasium for the first time in nearly a month's time, the Warriors (7-10, 5-6) began the final weekend of the opening half of Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play this season by hosting a Geoduck (2-10, 2-8) squad that upset Corban on Tim Hills Court last season to snap a lengthy winning streak by the Navy and Gold. Tonight was a well-deserved homecoming performance that saw a three-point struggling Warrior crew find their footing and utilize a massive third quarter to eventual coast to a double-digit victory.
After a fairly even opening period that saw Corban lead by a single point, a three-pointer by Evergreen guard Honey Let Padasdao allowed the Geoducks to take their first, and final lead of the game, as the three-point range opened up for the Warriors over the next nine minutes and 24 seconds where they splashed five of their twelve longballs to lead 37-31 at the halftime break.
The Navy and Gold defense stepped up and held Evergreen State to just nine points in the third quarter to extend their lead far into double-digits and eventually stretched their advantage to 26 points deep into the fourth quarter before the Geoducks were able to salvage a nearly 30-point loss into a 15-point defeat instead, even despite outscoring the Warriors 27-15 in points off turnovers.
A 12-for-23 conversion rate from three-point range, led by senior guard Alyssa Wyllie who was 5-for-7 from deep, allowed Corban women's basketball to clear their bench and allow key reserves to close out the contest to a rousing ovation from the Warrior Nation faithful. Sophomore guard Lizzy Bennett had a nearly perfect evening with 16 points to tie Wyllie for the game-high mark, along with three assists and three rebounds while committing zero turnovers and missing just two shots in only 19 minutes played.
The Geoducks were led offensively by forward Jalyn Sackrider and her double-double performance of 14 points and 13 rebounds, while guard Allison DeBerry dropped 14 more points and guard Sydney VanNess piled in 13 more in Evergreen State's efforts. The starting trio combined for 41 of the team's 58 total points, with DeBerry dishing out a trio of assists as well.
Corban women's basketball will return to their home court tomorrow afternoon when they host Northwest University (4-12, 3-7) at 3pm for their first head-to-head clash of 2024-25.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l YouTube l Email
