CALDWELL, Idaho – With an opportunity to either tie or take the lead with six seconds remaining after leading for a majority of the contest, the Corban University Women's Basketball team's road effort against The College of Idaho fell just short on their buzzer beater look from midrange, resulting in a 61-59 loss in their first matchup of the 2025 calendar year in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action.
"Overall, we had a great defensive effort," began Warriors' head coach Kylie Frizell. "C of I is a really balanced team with multiple scoring threats. In spite of struggling behind the arc, we did a great job at figuring out how to score against their tough defense. Just came short at the end on both sides of the court. The big thing that we need to focus on is learning from tonight and getting ready for EOU tomorrow."
Entering the matchup fresh off their first victory over I-5 rival Bushnell University in a seven-year span, the Warriors (5-8, 3-4) were primed for another true road test in Caldwell, as the Yotes (6-5, 4-2) are fresh off an incredibly successful road trip to northern Idaho where they knocked off No. 13-ranked Lewis-Clark State College to hand LC State their first loss of the season on their own home court.
Corban's defense picked up right where they left off against the Beacons, allowing just 12 first quarter points to C of I by forcing them to shoot from beyond the arc, where they converted on just 2-of-9 three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Navy and Gold were rebounding on the defensive end with ten in the quarter and scoring on 33% of their own field goals to lead by three following the first ten minutes of action.
A 7-0 run to kick off the second quarter by the Warriors forced an early timeout from the Yotes, with Corban eventually holding on for another three-point margin in their favor entering the halftime break 31-25 at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. A massive rebounding advantage of 24-13 through two quarters of regulation had the Navy and Gold sitting pretty at the midway point, while limiting themselves to just five turnovers and putting C of I into uncomfortable offensive schemes that benefited the Warriors' positioning off the rim.
If it wasn't for a three-pointer at the horn in the Yotes' first high-scoring period of the evening, the Warriors would have held a two-point lead entering the final quarter of play but instead settled for a one-point deficit, trailing 42-41 with ten minutes left to play. Four of C of I's six field goals for the period were converted from three-point territory, while the Warriors went 0-for-3 from deep in the quarter.
Leading by six with under five minutes remaining, the Navy and Gold offense grew silent at the most unprecedented time, which allowed College of Idaho to inch back and take the lead with a minute and a half to play. Following another unsuccessful opportunity on their own offense half, Corban allowed an offensive rebound and eventual putback to increase C of I's lead to three points with 44 seconds remaining.
Needing a three to tie, Coach Frizell looked to sophomore guard Lizzy Bennett from the wing, where she splashed a triple with 33 seconds on the scoreboard to tie the contest up at 59-all. On their own offensive end of the court, the Yotes found the eventual game-winner from forward Ashton Adamson after she was able to scoop up an offensive rebound, and despite a timeout for the Warriors to draw up their last possession, C of I finally got the timely defense they needed to force an errant shot attempt and escape their own home court with a narrow victory to improve to 4-2 in CCC play.
Senior forward Madison Hodnett gave the Yotes fits all night long under the basket, as she put together the only double-double effort of the evening with a team-high 14 points and 11 boards to lead all student-athletes in rebounding while swatting a pair of C of I shot attempts. All but one of every Warrior to touch the floor eventually scored in the offensive effort where the visiting team outshot the home team 39% to 34%, with Bennett adding nine points and four rebounds as the highest scoring Corban player outside of Hodnett.
A game-best 15-point effort by Yotes' guard Taryn Riley allowed College of Idaho to skirt past the road Warriors with the two-point home win in which they trailed for most of the contest, followed by Adamson and her 14 points to match Hodnett on Corban's sideline. An offensive spark of 15 points from guard Mia Austin off the bench where she converted on 7-of-19 field goal attempts proved to be the difference in tonight's matchup where the Navy and Gold starters held C of I to just 16 points in the paint compared to 36 of their own.
The Warriors will begin their trip back to the Willamette Valley by making a stop in La Grande for their first matchup of the season with Eastern Oregon University (7-4, 3-3), with tipoff scheduled for 3pm.
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