SALEM, Ore. – A nerve-racking opening half was met with an overwhelming response by the No. 20-ranked Corban University Women's Basketball team in their opening matchup of the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Tournament, as the Dubs made use of their home court advantage by engaging the Warrior Nation supporters as they rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to knock off Northwest University 75-63 on Tim Hills Court.
"I'm really happy that we were able to pull off this win especially after a poor first half where we played really flat and were letting Northwest take far too many open shots," expressed Corban head coach Kylie Frizell. "We talked at halftime about how we weren't playing Warrior basketball, lacking high ball pressure on the defensive end which in turn led to deficits on the offensive end of the court. A huge third quarter led by our transition game allowed us to reclaim the lead and eventually take this win. We've got another huge battle tomorrow night against a solid Oregon Tech squad, and we're locked in for a 5pm showdown on our home floor."
After a tentative opening half where the Warriors (24-5) didn't convert on nearly as many open looks from the field as they're used to on their home court, the No. 8-seeded Eagles (10-19) all over the opportunities presented to them by burying over 50% of their field goal attempts while holding Corban to a 5-for-20 second quarter efficiency. Northwest jumped out to a nine-point lead with 3:36 remaining in the second period and eventually settled for a 41-34 halftime lead over the CCC's top seeded program.
However, the Navy and Gold flipped the script on NU with an overwhelming 20-5 third quarter run, needing just under two minutes to knot the contest back up and even held the Eagles scoreless until the 2:40 mark. Incredibly clutch three-point shots from junior guard Tayla Yost and redshirt senior guard Tori Younker set the Warriors up for a success in the second half and utilized an 11-for-12 fourth quarter from the free throw line to edge Northwest and stop the Eagles' 2025-26 campaign from progressing any further.
A massive double-double outing from graduate student center Emilia Bishop powered the Dubs to victory, as she concluded her evening as one of three Corban student-athletes with 14 points but hauled in a season-high 15 rebounds to lockdown both keys on the court, with over a third of her boards coming on the offensive glass. Yost led all Warriors with 15 points, while Younker and redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta matched Bishop with 14 points apiece.
In their final showing of the year, the Eagles were led in scoring by guard Kaleah Medeiros who played all but the final two minutes of tonight's contest, scoring a game-high 17 points and brought down five boards. Guard Ellie Bost pitched in another 13 points alongside six rebounds and a trio of assists as the hot-shooting duo cooled off in the second half of their postseason matchup with No. 20-ranked Corban.
With the highest remaining seed getting to choose their timeslot given the new single site tourney style of scheduling, the Warriors have elected to play the 5pm semifinal matchup against No. 5-seeded and receiving-votes Oregon Tech (19-10) who knocked off No. 4-seeded College of Idaho in the final quarterfinal matchup this evening. Corban swept the regular season matchups with Tech via an 80-64 road victory and 70-60 rematch win in Salem. Whoever emerges victorious between the Dubs and Lady Owls will clinch a spot in the tournament championship game, scheduled for Monday at 5:30pm back at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
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