Warriors earn trip to NAIA Division II national tournament

February 27, 2007

Fifth-year head coach Dave Bale cuts down the nets for the third time in five seasons following the Warriors' win over Albertson last Friday, as Corban earned its second berth in three years to the NAIA D-II national tournament. (Photo courtesy of Josh Randolph, Corban J-Lab)

SALEM, Ore. - Corban's women's basketball team earned the second Cascade Collegiate Conference berth to the NAIA D-II national tournament by going undefeated over the final month of the season and capped off the streak with last night's tournament championship game come-from-behind victory over Eastern Oregon University, 59-58, and extended its overall winning streak to a school-record tying eleven straight.

Despite securing the tournament berth last Friday with a semifinal victory over Albertson, Corban pushed itself up in the tournament seedings with last night's win, as well as snapping Eastern Oregon's conference-high 13 game winning streak.

Corban garnished its first-ever combined conference regular season and tournament titles, as the Warriors avenged earlier losses to the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon both on the court in La Grande and on the tie-breaking coin flip in Olympia, Washington.

Fifth-year head coach Dave Bale will be guiding his third team to the national tournament, as six players -- senior Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.), senior Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.), senior Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.), junior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.), junior Mandy Peterson (Portland, Ore.), and junior Katie Dennis (Damacus, Ore.) -- will each be making their second trip in four years to Sioux City.

In 2005, then-Western Baptist advanced to the national tournament after defeating Albertson, 60-57, in the conference tournament championship game.  Unfortunately for the Warriors, first-round opponent Concordia (Neb.) ended their journey and season with a 70-58 loss.   This season, Corban captured its school-record 27th victory in 33 games to surpass the old mark of twenty-five wins set during the 1996-97 and 2005-06 seasons. 

This is the third straight season that the Warriors have won more than twenty games, including a school-record 15 wins in conference play.  Having finished as the runner-up on three separate occasions (1997, 2002 & 2006) in the final conference standings, Bale guided Corban to its first-ever regular season title via a regular season ending eight-game winning streak.

Corban will have to wait to see which team they will match up against in the opening round of the NAIA Division II national tournament when the pairings are released on Wednesday, February 28th, by 3:00 p.m. (PST).  Check www.gowarriorsgo.com for the latest news about the women's basketball team's trip to the Big Dance!

NOTE: Fans can follow the Warriors' journey through the national tournament either via radio at 90.3 FM KWBX or live on their computer via video stream. Check out www.gowarriorsgo.com for more details about signing up for video streaming off all Warrior game in Sioux City, Iowa.