Warriors avenge earlier loss to 'Yotes of Albertson

January 19, 2007

BOX SCORE - CORBAN 101, ALBERTSON 88

Senior Jessi Norton led Corban with a team-best 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field, as Corban snapped Albertson's nine-game winning streak tonight and extended its own unbeaten streak to six games. (Photo courtesy of William Scott Photography)

CALDWELL, Idaho - In a battle of the top two teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings, Corban's women's basketball team snapped the NAIA's No. 25-ranked Coyotes of Albertson's nine-game winning streak with a 101-88 victory on Friday.

Corban's point total was its highest since scoring 103 points in a victory over Walla Walla College during the 2001-02 season.  This is the first time in 162 games that Corban's women's basketball team has scored in triple digits, as this is the first time that fifth-year head coach Dave Bale has guided the Warriors to more than 100 points in a game during his coaching tenure.  Also, the combined 189 points by Corban and Albertson were a J.A. Albertson Activites Center facility record, topping the previous 187 combined points by Albertson and Concordia in 1996.

Senior Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.) scored a team-high 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field, while fellow senior Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.) and junior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) added 23 and 20 points respectively to help the Warriors extend their winning streak to six games and set a record for most points by an opponent (101) in the J.A. Albertson Activities Center's history.

Corban shot a season-high 64.5% (40-for-62) from the field, including an amazing 20-for-28 (71.4%) in the second half.  Norton, Carras, and Steigleman combined to shoot 28-for-38 from the field, as Steigleman made a team-best ten field goals on fifteen attempts.

Both teams battled for the first 9:15 and had the game deadlocked at 19-all before Corban used a 13-0 run over a span of 5 minutes and 15 seconds to extend its lead to 32-19 and never looked back from there.  The Warriors held three different 12-point leads (34-22, 37-25, & 39-27), while Albertson attempted to get back into the game and cut into the Warriors' lead to four points (44-40) with nine seconds left thanks to a pair of free throws by Whitney Clark.  Despite allowing the host Coyotes to get within a pair of baskets, Corban's freshman Hillary Sell (Aloha, Ore.) scored a lay-up at the buzzer to give the visiting Warriors a six-point advantage (46-40) at intermission.

The second half began with Albertson cutting the Warriors' lead in half (48-45) following a 3-pointer by Jori Grady just over a minute into the final stanza.  Corban pushed its lead back to double digits via an 11-4 run in 1:55, as Norton canned a shot from long distance with 16:50 to go in the game.  Each team continued to battle, as Albertson once again cut the Warriors' lead to a mere three points (71-68) with 9:42 on the clock thanks to a jumper by Whitney Martin.  Thirty-three seconds later, the host 'Yotes once again had Corban's lead down to a single bucket from long distance (73-70) when Savannah Ames connected on a lay-up with 9:09 left.  Over the next 3:33, Corban used a 13-4 run to secure a 12-point lead (86-74) with 5:36 on the clock thanks to eight points by Carras during the run.  The Warriors held their nationally-ranked opponents at bay over the final five-plus minutes and saw the Coyotes only get within five points (86-81) with 4:31 left before pushing its lead to ten points (95-85) following a pair of free throws by senior Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.) with 2:30 to go in the game.  Over the final two-and-a-half minutes, the visiting Warriors used an 8-3 run for the final margin of 13 points (101-88).

Carras turned in her second straight double-double with 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, as fellow senior Kendall Dionne (Brownsville, Ore.) grabbed 10 rebounds for the second straight game.  Wilson played a season-high 40 minutes, as the senior point guard had an impressive all-around game with 7 points, 5 rebounds, a game-high 7 assists, and a game-high 6 steals.  Sell notched a career-high 14 points (13 in the first half) on 6-for-8 shooting from field, while pulling down 2 rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Along with Corban's season-high shooting percentage, the Warriors shot 5-for-10 (50.0%) from the three point line and 16-for-23 (69.6%) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Albertson shot 34-for-77 (44.2%) from the field, including an abnormal 3-for-20 (15.0%) from beyond the arc and 17-for-24 (70.8%) from the charity stripe.

Albertson was led by Clark's career and game-high 29 points on 11-for-23 shooting from field, while Denise Hill and Grady added 17 and 15 points respectively.  Hill tied for the game-high in rebounds with 11, while Grady and Clark pulled down 4 and 3 boards respectively.

In handing the front running 'Yotes their first conference loss of the season, Corban improves to 16-5 overall, 8-2 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. On the other hand, Albertson falls to 13-6 overall, 9-1 in CCC action. The Warriors will return to action on Saturday, January 20th, against the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at 5:30 p.m. in La Grande.  Tomorrow night's action can be heard live in Salem via 90.3 FM KWBX or over the Internet by visiting www.gowarriorsgo.com and following the link to Stretch Internet's broadcast schedule.