Freshman Katie Steigleman has led the Warriors in scoring in five of Corban's last six games that includes a career-high 25 points against Simpson.
Quartet of Corban Players Score in Double Figures in Victory Over Linfield
BOX SCORE
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Freshman Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) led a quartet of Warriors in double figures, as Corban's women's basketball team returned from a six-day lay off and defeated NCAA Division III member Linfield, 76-59, Friday night inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Steigleman's game-high 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting was aided by fellow freshman Becky Buhler's (Clackamas, Ore.)13-point performance off the bench.
Following a cancellation earlier this week due to an unforeseen death among the Willamette coaching staff, Corban stepped back onto the floor for the first time since last Saturday's loss to the Eagles of Northwest in the finale of the conference's opening weekend.
In the opening half, Corban jumped out to a double digit lead (14-3) with 15:05 showing on the clock behind an eight-point effort by Steigleman via a trio of jumpers and a pair of free throws. Linfield would cut the Warriors' lead to a mere four points (24-20) with 5:33 remaining in the first half before Corban would close the half on a 14-6 run for a halftime lead of 12 points (38-26).
Over the game's final twenty minutes, Linfield would get as close as nine points (40-31) in the first two minutes before Corban extended its lead to as much as 23 points (69-46) following a three-pointer by Buhler with 4:10 left in the contest. Over the final four-plus minutes, Corban would put points on the board via free throws only as Steigleman would connect on three shots from the charity stripe to go along with a pair of free throws by sophomores Ashlee Jensen (Yuba City, Calif.) and Jennifer Hansen (Mulino, Ore.). Hansen's two free throws came with two seconds remaining for the game's final margin of 17 points (76-59).
Besides Steigleman and Buhler, senior Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) and junior Monique Tribble (Coquille, Ore.) added 10 points each. Connell led the Warriors with a team-best seven rebounds, while Buhler and fellow freshman Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash.) pulled down five boards each. Steigleman handed out a game-high five assists, while Connell and fellow senior Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.) added four and three assists respectively.
Linfield was led by Kelsey Forrest's 15 points, while Chrissy Baumgartner and Sarah Amida added 10 and 7 points respectively. Baumgartner grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Wildcats, while Nadra Evans and Whitney Honn added eight and seven boards respectively.
As a team, Corban shot 24-for-59 (40.7%) from the field that included a 15-for-31 (48.4%) clip over the opening twenty minutes. The Warriors were 5-for-10 (50.0%) from behind the three-point line, while shooting 23-for-28 (82.1%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Linfield was 19-for-68 (27.9%) from the field that included a 5-for-23 (21.7%) showing from beyond the arc and a 16-for-20 (80.0%) performance at the charity stripe.
With the win, Corban improves to 4-5 overall compared to Linfield's 0-5 start to its young season. The Warriors return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 20th, in its final conference game of 2008 against the Beacons of Northwest Christian beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the Morse Event Center in Eugene.