Warriors fall to NCAA Division III member Pacific Lutheran

December 8, 2005

BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – After winning six straight games and being tagged as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ (NAIA) No. 18-ranked team, Corban’s women’s basketball team suffered their first loss in 17 days to NCAA Division III member Pacific Lutheran, 76-66, on Thursday night.

Junior Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.) led all players with a season and career-high 24 points on 11-for-13 (84.6%) shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the 3-point arc.  The 5-foot-11 Northwest Christian High School graduate also grabbed a team-high 5 rebounds, while playing 34 minutes.

Down by 3 (31-28) at halftime, the Warriors battled with the visiting Lutes and eventually tied the game at 53-all when Carras made a driving lay up on an assist from sophomore Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) with 6:42 remaining in the game.  Just over two minutes later, Carras took a pass from fellow junior Jessi Schaumburg (Redmond, Ore.) and tied the game for the 6th time.  PLU re-gained the lead by 4 points (63-59) following back-to-back lay ins by Mallory Mann and Kezia Long before Carras brought the Warriors within 1 at 63-62 via her second 3-pointer of the game from the right side wing with 2:59 on the clock.  After back-to-back free throws by Long, Steigleman hit a driving lay up, as Corban cut the deficit again to 1 point (65-64) with 2:23 left.  Corban could not get any closer, as the visiting Lutes made two straight lay ins and seven straight free throws over the final 77 seconds.

Along with Carras, senior Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.) and Schaumburg recorded 12 and 10 points respectively.  Wilson (pictured right) had the best all-around game for the Warriors with a team-high 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals to go along with her dozen points in 37 minutes of action.

Corban shot 28-for-59 (47.5%) from the field, while Pacific Lutheran shot 27-for-52 (51.9%).  The visiting Lutes shot more than 50.0% in each half, while Corban struggled in the first half, making only 40.7% (11-for-27) of their shots.

All five starters scored in double figures for Pacific Lutheran, as Kelly Turner and Long led the Lutes with 16 points each.  Mann, Patricia Buckingham, and Nikki Johnson scored 15, 11, and 10 points respectively.  Long grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds for PLU, while Melissa Richardson and Johnson pulled down 4 rebounds each.

With the loss, Corban falls to 8-2 overall, while Pacific Lutheran improves to 6-1.  The Warriors are next in action on Saturday, December 10th, when they meet NCAA Division II member Western Oregon beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Monmouth.