SALEM, Ore. – With a battle for first place on the line for the No. 22-ranked Corban University Women's Basketball, the Warriors showed out on their home court against RV Oregon Tech once again, clinching 70-60 victory and a season sweep of the Lady Owls for the first time since 2010-11, thus snapping a four-game losing skid to OIT on Tim Hills Court. In just her 54th career game at the NAIA level, redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta scored her 1,000th career point in the second quarter of tonight's contest on a driving layup attempt that flipped the momentum in the Warriors' favor thanks to the Cascade Collegiate Conference's (CCC) leading scorer.
"I'm really proud of being able to sweep OIT this year, as they have a solid program and it's always great to pick up marquee wins," shared Warriors' head coach Kylie Frizell shortly after their second head-to-head win against Tech this regular season. "We shared the ball well in spite of turning the ball over 17 times, which we overcame with really great execution on the defensive end. Our defense is really what led us to this win tonight, but I couldn't end without giving major kudos to Jersey and Jenna. Jersey continues to score well and doing so in the right way, leading the conference in scoring while also being top three in assists is special. And what Jenna brings to the court alongside Jersey is what I love about this team, any of them can have a career night at any time, and they all love to support each other in the process."
After a dominating fourth quarter in Klamath Falls this past December that provided the Warriors (19-4, 12-3) with the first of two wins over the Lady Owls (15-8, 11-4) thus far in 2025-26, Tech didn't go down easy in their rematch in the state capital tonight within the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, as they jumped out to an 18-17 lead after the opening quarter. However, the first quarter offensive lulls that Warrior Nation fans have grown accustomed to over the past 23 contests once again were short-lived, this time with the defense picking up steam in the second quarter to hold OIT to just eight points on 3-for-12 shooting and enter the halftime break leading 34-26.
The Lady Owls crept to within a single point with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, yet back-to-back jumpers from graduate student center Emilia Bishop and redshirt junior guard Jenna Albrecht stretched the lead back to a pair of possessions entering the fourth quarter. Albrecht's fadeaway baseline jumper as the clock expired inspired the Corban faithful to roar with applause, all but sealing tonight's result following an offensive masterpiece in the fourth quarter by the Dubs where they hit 66.7% of their field goal attempts while holding Tech to under 32%.
Huerta and Albrecht powered the Corban offense with 19 and 18 points, respectively, with each hitting over 50% of their field goal attempts and Huerta finishing 8-for-12 from the floor in yet another MVP caliber performance. Bishop, redshirt senior guard Tori Younker, and senior forward Mandie Jensen each pitched in another eight points apiece, with Bishop leading all players with 11 rebounds.
OIT guard Tatum Schmerbach lost the team result but continues to make it a tight race atop the CCC individual leaderboards with a game-high 21 points and six assists tonight, sitting for just a minute of tonight's contest as she attempted to will the Lady Owls back to a victory. She added six rebounds for another well-rounded statistical result, while guard Olivia Sprague pitched in 11 points with Corban holding the Owls' sharpshooter to 1-for-6 from three-point range.
Yet another nationally recognized program visits the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center tomorrow afternoon, as the Warriors will host RV Southern Oregon University (17-6, 12-3) at 3pm looking to avenge their first CCC loss of the season in Ashland earlier this season.
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