KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – In her first season as head coach of the Corban University Women's Basketball program, Kylie Frizell has helped lead the team back to the postseason for a third-consecutive season and will have an opportunity to accomplish something no other Warrior squad has done since the 2019-20 season; escape the quarterfinal round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament and extend their season into a semifinal matchup.
To access the 2024-25 CCC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship page, click HERE.
The following schedule depicts the CCC Tournament Quarterfinal matchups, with the higher seed hosting each contest:
#8 The Evergreen State College at #1 Southern Oregon University
#7 Corban University at #2 Oregon Tech
#6 Bushnell University at #3 Lewis-Clark State College
#5 College of Idaho at #4 Eastern Oregon University
For the first time in CCC history, the regular season champion squad completed an undefeated trek through conference play en route to the first of two automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament, as No. 4-ranked and No. 1-seeded Southern Oregon steamrolled their way through the conference to secure home court advantage throughout this year's CCC tourney.
A third opportunity to defeat the No. 22-ranked Lady Owls of Oregon Tech comes on the cusp of just a ten-point road loss a mere three weeks ago in the first full week of February, as the Warriors went down to the wire with OIT and had chances to cut the deficit to one or two possessions before Tech was able to win the contest at the free throw line. Ironically enough, the most recent postseason matchup between these two programs also dates back to the 2019-20 season and represents the most recent postseason win for Corban women's basketball when they took a 71-59 road win on Danny Miles Court after also being swept in regular season action.
Coach Frizell has instilled a new offensive scheme within the Navy and Gold women's program and in doing so, has reignited the roster she took over in the spring of 2024 to win nine conference games and double-digit regular season wins for only the second time in a five-year span. For nearly half the CCC slate, the Warriors were the best three-point shooting team in the conference and after all 22-games for each of the 12 teams were completed, they finished third behind only the top-seeded Raiders and No. 3-seeded Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon University. In terms of scoring offense, scoring margin, free throw percentage, field goal percentage, and offensive rebounding, Corban women's basketball was located up and down the top half of the CCC for all offensive categories.
Defensively is where the Warriors have allowed winnable contests to slip from their grip,as they rank within the bottom third of nearly all defensive categories despite their sharp shooting offense keeping them alive on a daily basis. Turnovers have also been a major thorn in their side since day one, as they average more miscues in the possessional game per contest than every other conference team outside of Northwest University who finished ninth in the CCC standings, just outside of the postseason window.
With over eight three-pointers made per contest and their Lady Owl foes ranking dead last in their own three-point offense, Corban women's basketball is more than capable of pulling off a first-round upset should they be able to force OIT to take their chances from the perimeter and protect the paint defensively. Offensively, the Warriors must convert on their limited offensive possessions due to the No. 22-ranked Lady Owls' nationally recognized defense that allows just 37% of field goals by opposing offenses to be scored, which is third lowest in the CCC. Additionally, Tech rebounds better than any team in the conference with a wild +12.4 rebounding margin, nearly double that of undefeated conference champion Southern Oregon.
With All-Conference awards still to be announced by the conference office, the Warriors will turn towards their senior core for motivation and support as they look to topple their OIT counterparts, with the offensive efficiency of senior guard Gemma LaVergne (41.5% from three-point territory) and sophomore guard Lizzy Bennett (41.2% from three-point land) a viable backbone to their high-scoring offense. In addition to LaVergne and Bennett, senior guard Alyssa Wyllie has put together her best offensive season as a Warrior with a nearly 35% field goal percentage from deep, representing three Corban student-athletes in the top 13 for three-point efficiency within the CCC.
On the defense end of the floor, Bennett and senior forward Madison Hodnett are both ranked within the top eight of the conference in blocked shots, with the duo combining for two blocked shots per night while Hodnett rebounds as well as any of the best post players within the CCC at 7.0 per night and averaging the eighth most offensive boards in the conference at 2.3 per game. Finally, redshirt junior guard Tori Younker has taken on the playmaker role for Coach Frizell and the Warriors as of late, dishing out nearly three assists per game for the 12th best mark in the Cascade Conference.
The final team standing atop the conference tournament will receive the conference's second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament, which is slated to begin on March 14th and 15th with the First and Second Rounds being played out on campus sites. Should the regular season champion Raiders win the CCC tourney, the second automatic bid would go to the tournament runner-up. The final site of the national tournament will begin on March 20th and end on March 25th with a new NAIA champion being crowned.
Live video for tonight's quarterfinal matchup between Corban and OIT will be made available HERE, with live stats available HERE, and audio only listed online HERE.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l YouTube l Email
