PORTLAND, Ore. – A ticky-tacky first half of fouls by both Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) programs in action tonight was quickly eradicated by an overwhelming offensive attack by the No. 22-ranked Corban University Women's Basketball team over the remainder of their road contest against Warner Pacific University, as the Warriors outscored the Knights 38-17 over the final twenty minutes of regulation to stretch their undefeated record to 9-0 following the opening week of conference matchups.
"Super excited about getting this win today," Corban head coach Kylie Frizell detailed. "I was pleased with our defensive effort today, as we didn't shoot the ball all that well ourselves, yet we knew we could keep the advantage on the scoreboard we had built with our press that forced nearly thirty turnovers. Awesome to see Tori score a new career-high, her presence tonight both offensively and defensively were huge for us. I love the pace we're playing at right now in transition, our possessions, and on the defense end."
The story of tonight's victory for the Warriors (9-0, 2-0) will show up in the box score across numerous statistical categories, but none more impressive than in team turnovers forced that led to offensive numbers for the Navy and Gold in a contest that they didn't necessarily shoot the ball well themselves, as they were just under 45% from the field overall. A season-high 27 turnovers forced by the Corban defense against the Knights (3-4, 0-1) is the most in a single game by the women's basketball program since the 2022-23 season when they forced 30 against the same Warner Pac program. Their 27 forced turnovers resulted in 32 points for the Warrior offense, compared to just five points scored off Corban miscues for WPU.
In addition to their smothering defense, the Dubs hauled in 36 rebounds, 12 of which came off the offensive glass to score another 14 points in second chance opportunities. Their dominance in the post resulted in doubling up the Knights on their home court in scoring within the paint, 50-24, including all 24 of their third quarter points due to the full court press transition buckets.
A career-high 21 points from redshirt senior guard Tori Younker was the driving force the Corban offense needed to pick up their ninth win of the year, just two victories behind their total wins from last season. Younker hauled in the game-best marks in both rebounds (8), and steals (4) while also dishing out a pair of assists along the way. Graduate student center Emilia Bishop added 11 points and three boards, while redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta dealt out a game-high five dimes.
The Knights were led offensively by forward Riley Layton who scored 17 points in 14 minutes of action, scoring nine of her 17 from the free throw line and representing the only WPU player in double-figure scoring. Forward Skylar Groesbeck added seven points and tied Younker for the game-high rebounding mark with eight of her own.
One final non-conference matchup sits between the No. 22-ranked Warriors and the remainder of CCC action for the rest of the 2025-26 season, as they'll have over a week to prepare for NCAA DIII Linfield University (4-1), with the Northwest Athletic Conference preseason favorites visiting Tim Hills Court on Saturday, December 13th at 3pm.
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