Goette, Bostwick Lead Warriors in Loss to Mesa State
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Sophomore Emily Goette (Aumsville, Ore.) and junior Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.) combined to score 21 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field, but Corban's women's basketball team fell to tournament-host Mesa State College, 62-53, on the opening day of the Holiday Inn Christmas Bash.
Goette led the Warriors with 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Bostwick added 10 points and a team-high tying two assists.
Meanwhile, Corban's leading scorer senior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) was held to a mere six points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds. In the process, the 5-foot-10 forward had her streak of six straight games scoring 20-or-more points snapped.
Steigleman gave Corban the early lead (2-0) with a jumper less than a minute into the game, before the host Mavericks battled toe-to-toe with the Warriors over the next four-plus minutes that included five lead changes and three ties. Mesa State took a slim one-point lead (8-7) with 15:26 remaining in the opening half before ballooning its lead to as much as seven points (17-10) following back-to-back free throws by Lindsey Kame with 11:41 to go in the opening half.
Corban battled back and tied the game at 23-all with 4:19 on the clock thanks to an offensive rebound and jumper by freshman Ashlee Jensen (Yuba City, Calif.). Fellow freshman Rachel Harter (Grass Valley, Calif.) handed the Warriors their third lead of the first half (25-24) via a jumper with 3:20 remaining in the opening stanza. The two teams traded leads over the next 1:05 before Harter handed Corban its final lead of the game (29-28) with her second jumper in less than 90 seconds. Mesa State used a 5-2 run over the final minute to take a two-point lead (33-31) into the locker room.
In the second half, Corban got to within two points (37-35) following a jumper by Bostwick with 15:34 on the clock but could not get any closer as the host Mavericks began to apply the offensive pressure. Mesa State pushed its lead to as much as eight points (55-47) with 3:56 to go in the game and then cruised to a nine-point win (62-53) as the Mavericks' Kame shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final three-plus minutes.
Despite Goette and Bostwick's double-digit point totals, no other Warrior reached double figures in points as freshman Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.) was the closest with seven points. Steigleman, Harter, and freshman Katie Stewart (Eugene, Ore.) added six, five, and five points respectively, while junior Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) and Miller grabbed five rebounds each to go along with Goette's team-high and Steigleman's six.
Mesa State was led by Kame's game-high 17 points on a mere 2-for-10 shooting from the field, but a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line. Along with Kame, Cassie Hutto added 11 points and Kelsie Gourdin pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
The game's difference came from beyond the three-point arc and at the free throw line, as the host Mavericks connected on one more trey and six more free throws than Corban.
With the loss, Corban sees its record fall to 6-6 overall while Mesa State pushes its winning streak to two games and improves to 3-8 overall. The Warriors will conclude their play at the Holiday Inn Christmas Bash on Saturday, December 29th, against Colorado Christian College beginning at 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. on the West Coast) in Grand Junction, Colorado.