SALEM, Ore. – The 21st win of the RV Corban University Women's Basketball team's season couldn't have come at a better time, as the program honored their five senior student-athletes prior to the start of their eventual 72-66 upset over No. 14-ranked Eastern Oregon University, as the Warriors handed the Mountaineers only their fourth loss of the season behind a masterful second half comeback effort. Prior to the start of their rematch with the Mounties, the Navy and Gold honored graduate student center Emilia Bishop, senior forward Sevennah Van De Reit, senior forward Mandie Jensen, redshirt junior guard Jenna Albrecht, and redshirt senior guard Tori Younker for their incredible collegiate careers.
"This was just a perfect weekend to be able to celebrate our seniors with how well we're playing as a team," expressed Warriors' head coach Kylie Frizell shortly after her program's third victory over an NAIA Top 25 team this season. "Eastern Oregon is a very good team and like I've said before, we're all just beating up on each other at the top of the standings. Every night is a battle, and despite a tough second quarter offensively, I didn't need to say anything absurd at halftime to get the team to respond. Merely to get back into our gameplan on what we planned for on how to win this game behind setting up screens, looking to shoot, driving to score, and clean up the rebounds on the defensive end because of how strong EOU is around the rim. Getting to honor our seniors with a special win tonight in a contest where they all played phenomenally in different aspects of the game was amazing, and now we must turn our focus towards LC State and Walla Walla as we look to compete for a conference title next weekend."
A double-digit lead established by the Warriors (21-5, 14-4) over the opening four minutes of today's Senior Day matchup was quickly eradicated by the Mountaineers (22-4, 14-4) who made rapid defensive adjustments on the fly while cleaning up their own miscues offensively to trail by two entering the second quarter. After a layup from EOU tied the contest at 20-all, Eastern Oregon pulled ahead and would not surrender the lead the remainder of the opening half, entering the break leading by five thanks to a lockdown defensive period where they held the Dubs to just six total points.
Corban opened the third period on a 10-4 run and traded leads back and forth with the Mounties for the next several minutes, with the Warriors finally taking a two-possession lead on yet another fadeaway jumper in the paint by Albrecht, who made that her go-to move this weekend as she led the Navy and Gold offense for yet another matchup.
Junior guard Tayla Yost scored just eight points all game long but hit two of the most crucial three-point shots of the entire contest, as a pair of Albrecht free throws were sandwiched between Yost's back-to-back shots from deep that put the Dubs ahead 67-57 and forced a timeout from EOU. Eastern Oregon scrapped and clawed their way back to a four-point deficit, but too much time had been eaten up in the process which allowed the Warriors to clinch a season split with the Mountaineers for a second-straight season.
Albrecht has done nothing but turn up the high-octane gameplay as the season progresses, as she added another game-high scoring mark to her 2025-26 resume with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting alongside six rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta was right behind her at 17 points and eight boards, while Bishop pitched in 12 points and scooped up six rebounds along the way.
Yet another double-double effort by Mountie forward Kelsie Siegner kept the visiting squad within striking distance for nearly the entire contest, as she played game-high 37 minutes and scored 17 points while hauling in 12 rebounds. Guard Maggie Smith matched Siegner for the team-high scoring mark with 17 points while snagging four steals defensively. Forward Haylee Johnson added 13 points off the bench on 6-for-9 shooting.
A five-way tie for first place in the conference standings will be broken next weekend either with tiebreakers or head-to-head results, where the Navy and Gold will need to pick up a crucial road win on the road at No. 12-ranked Lewis-Clark State College (20-6, 14-4) if they want to keep their regular season championship hopes alive. Tipoff is scheduled for 5pm at the P1FCU Activity Center.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter (X) l Instagram l YouTube l Email
