Bale named Coach of the Year, All-CCC team named

February 24, 2007

After guiding the Warriors to a share of the regular season conference crown, fifth-year head coach Dave Bale was named conference Coach of the Year as Corban also secured four players on the all-conference team. (Photo courtesy of Corban Sports Information)

LA GRANDE, Ore. - As announced by the conference office earlier this week, fifth-year head coach Dave Bale was named Cascade Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year and Corban's women's basketball team landed four players on the all-conference team.

In his final season at the helm of the Warriors, Bale received six of ten votes from his fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference coaches as the top signal caller this season.  This is the first time in his career that Bale has been named as the top coach in the conference after leading this season's version of Warrior basketball to a share of the conference regular season crown, a berth in the national tournament for the third time in five seasons, and a school-record 26 wins (and counting).

In five seasons, Bale has accumulated an overall win-loss record of 106-52, including 62-23 in conference play.

Along with Bale's coaching honor, Corban placed four players -- senior Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.), senior Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.), senior Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.), and junior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) -- on the all-conference team.

Norton, who currently leads the team in scoring with 463 total points and an average of 14.5 points per game, finished second in the Player of the Year voting behind Eastern Oregon's Christie Weaver.  The 5-foot-8 guard ranks 72nd in the nation in points per game, while sitting 4th in the conference in scoring.

Wilson, who was also named the conference's co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Oregon Tech's Cora McVey, is currently fourth on the team in scoring with 370 points (avg. 11.6) and leads both the team and conference in assists with 171.  The 5-foot-6 point guard is 2nd in the conference in assists per game with an average of 5.34, while ranking 10th in assists per game and 5th in total assists in NAIA Division II.

Carras, who was named to her first all-conference team, has tallied over 400 points this season, while pulling down a team-high 243 rebounds (avg. 7.8) to rank 45th in the nation and 5th in the conference in rebounding.

Steigleman, who was honorable mention all-conference last season, is a mere tenth of a point behind Norton for the team lead in points per game, while scoring 433 points this season.  The 5-foot-10 guard/forward combo player is currently second on the team in points (433), points per game (14.4), total rebounds (184), rebounds per game (6.1), and blocked shots (12).

This is the second straight season that both Wilson and Norton have been named as members of the all-conference team, while Steigleman makes her return following a one-year absence.

Corban is currently 26-6 on the season and has advanced to the conference tournament championship game against Eastern Oregon on Monday, February 26th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in La Grande.  No matter what the outcome is of the conference tournament championship game, the Warriors have secured an automatic berth to the NAIA Division II national tournament in Sioux City, Iowa on March 7th-13th.