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Senior trio's point total not enough in loss to Eastern Oregon
January 20, 2007
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Seniors Jessi Norton (#21), Tosha Wilson (#11), and Brianne Carras (with ball) combined to score 46 points tonight in Corban's loss to Eastern Oregon, which is the Warriors' first setback in their last six games. (Photo courtesy of William Scott Photography) |
LA GRANDE, Ore. -
Despite a combined 46 points by seniors Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.), Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.), and Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.), Corban's women's basketball team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end via a 73-66 loss to the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon on Saturday.
After registering its highest point total since 2001-02 and shooting nearly sixty-five percentage from the field last night against Albertson, Corban suffered making only 29 field goals compared to a season-high 40 twenty-four hours earlier.
Norton led the Warriors with a team-best 16 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field, while Wilson and Carras each tallied 15 points. Carras pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double performance, while Wilson handed out a game-high 8 assists.
The game began with each team using a 6-0 run to knot the game at 6-all just under five minutes into the opening half. Eastern Oregon grabbed its largest lead of the first twenty minutes (12-8) following a 3-pointer by Liz Brice with 12:49 on the clock. A jumper by EOU's Tiffanie Ulmer allowed the host Mountaineers to secure their second 4-point lead (14-10) of the opening stanza with 11:45 remaining. Corban used a 4-0 run in a mere 29 seconds to tie the game at 14-14 thanks to a free throw by Carras and an old fashion three-point play by Wilson. Despite falling behind by three points (17-14), the visiting Warriors grabbed their largest lead of the first half (25-19) thanks to a three-pointer by senior Kendall Dionne (Brownsville, Ore.) with 8:43 to go in the first half. A jumper by Carras with just under two minutes remaining helped Corban secure its second six-point lead (33-27) of the opening stanza before EOU's Sheena Henderson helped the Mountaineers get within a mere bucket (33-31) with 47 seconds left. Another three-pointer by Dionne helped the Warriors take a 5-point advantage into the locker room, 36-31.
As the second half began, back-to-back jumpers by junior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) pushed Corban's lead to its max for the game, 40-33. Eastern Oregon used a 15-8 run over a span of 6:15 to knot the game at 48-all with 11:33 to go in the game. Corban quickly pushed its lead back to six points (56-50) thanks to an 8-2 run in 3:22 that was capped by a fast break lay-up by Wilson with 8:11 on the clock. The host Mountaineers took control with 5:09 remaining when Henderson connected on a jumper in the paint to give the host team a slim one-point lead (57-56). Unfortunately for the Warriors, the visitors could never regain the lead as Eastern Oregon pushed its advantage to as much as seven (63-56) thanks to an 8-0 run that was capped by a pair of Henderson free throws with 2:12 left. Over the final two-plus minutes, Corban could not get any closer than five points on five separate occasions with the final chance coming with three seconds remaining when Dionne hit a jumper in the paint. A pair of Elise Hawes free throws gave Eastern Oregon its final 7-point advantage for the final margin, 73-66.
Along with the senior trio, Steigleman was the only other Warrior to score in double figures with 10 points, while Dionne added 8 and junior Mandy Peterson (Portland, Ore.) closed out Corban's scoring with 2 points. A night after registering a new career-high with 14 points (13 in the first half), freshman Hillary Sell (Aloha, Ore.) was held scoreless on a pair of field goal attempts in just seven minutes of action.
As a team, Corban shot 29-for-65 (44.6%) from the field, including 6-for-10 (60.0%) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon shot 24-for-58 (41.4%) from the field, but had a major advantage at the charity stripe with a 19-for-25 (76.0%) performance.
Eastern Oregon was led by Ulmer's game-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from field, while Henderson and Christie Weaver added 18 and 12 points respectively. Weaver pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds, while Henderson and Brice grabbed 8 and 6 boards respectively.
With its first set back in nearly three weeks, Corban falls to 16-6 overall, 8-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon extends its winning streak to three games to improve to 15-5 overall, 8-3 in CCC action. The Warriors will return to action and continue their road adventures on Friday, January 26th, in Portland against conference rival Concordia beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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