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Season high by Norton not enough in loss to OIT
December 2, 2006
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Senior Jessi Norton led all players with 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field, but Corban could not defeat the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech tonight. (Photo courtesy of William Scott Photography) |
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -
Senior Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.) scored a season-high 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field, but it was not enough as Corban's women's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped by the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech, 74-63, on Saturday.
For the second night in a row, the 5-foot-6 senior guard led all players in scoring thanks to a 5-for-6 performance at the free throw line. After falling a mere point shy of tying for the team lead in points last season, Norton has come out with vengeance over the Warriors' first nine games and scored a team-best 129 points (avg. 14.3 ppg).
Along with her game-high in points, Norton also pulled down 4 rebounds (all defensive), handed out 4 assists, and recorded 3 steals in 34 minutes of action.
In the opening half, Corban grabbed its largest lead of the game (31-23) with 6:19 remaining when Norton hit her second of back-to-back 3-pointers. Over the next five minutes, Oregon Tech used a 9-2 run to get within a mere point (33-32) following a 3-point play by Crystal Trout with 1:06 showing on the clock. A jumper by Corban junior Mandy Peterson (Portland, Ore.) with eight seconds remaining allowed the visiting Warriors to take a slim 3-point lead (35-32) into the locker room.
Despite holding the lead at halftime, Corban came out and watched the host Owls take a 5-point lead (44-39) following a 12-4 run over the first three-plus minutes of the second half. Oregon Tech pushed its lead to as much as 9 (53-42) thanks to a jumper by Lacey Nobles with 13:27 remaining in the game. Thanks to the shooting of Norton, along with fellow senior guards Kendall Dionne (Brownsville, Ore.), and Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.), Corban got within a single point (53-52) with 10:31 left but could not get any closer thanks to OIT's 21-11 run over the final ten minutes.
Along with Norton, Dionne and junior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) chipped in with 14 and 8 points respectively. Dionne was 5-for-11 from the field, including a 4-for-8 performance from beyond the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Steigleman was 3-for-9 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Wilson poured in 7 points on 3-for-8 shooting from the field, while handing out a team-high 5 assists and grabbing 4 rebounds.
Oregon Tech's defense shut down Corban's leading scorer -- senior Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.) -- as the 5-foot-11 forward was limited to 2 points on 1-for-3 shooting from the field, while struggling with foul trouble throughout most of the game. Despite sitting on the bench for most of the second half with four fouls, Carras managed to pulled down a game-high 6 rebounds.
As a team, Corban shot 24-for-60 (40.0%) from the field, including a mere 7-for-9 (77.8%) performance from the free throw line. On the other hand, Oregon Tech shot 26-for-57 (45.6%) from the field and turned in a 13-for-19 (68.4%) performance from the charity stripe.
Oregon Tech was led by Cora McVey's team-high 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line and 2-for-4 from the free throw line. Kelsi Haylett, Lindsey Carmichael, and Crystal Trout added 17, 7, and 7 points respectively. Amanda Doherty grabbed a game and team-high 6 rebounds, while Haylett handed out a game-high 7 assist for the Hustlin' Owls.
With the loss, Corban falls to 5-4 overall, 1-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Oregon Tech improves to 9-3 overall, 2-0 in CCC action. The Warriors are next in action on Tuesday, December 5th, when they take a break from conference play against cross-town rival Willamette beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the Sparks Center in Salem.
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