Corban honored its pair of seniors at halftime, as the duo played their final games as Warriors.
Corban's Steigleman Ends Career at Home with Game-Highs
SALEM, Ore. -- Senior Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) tallied game highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds, but Corban's women's basketball team dropped its final home game of the season, 72-62, to the Lady Thunderbirds of Cascade Saturday evening inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
On a night when the Warriors honored it lone two seniors -- Steigleman and Mandy Peterson (Portland, Ore.) -- it was a pair of underclassmen that aided Steigleman in scoring, as sophomore Emily Goette (Aumsville, Ore.) and junior Kailey Bostwick (Medford, Ore.) scored 18 and 12 points respectively. For the second night in a row, Bostwick tallied double figures in assists as the 5-foot-6 point guard handed out 10 dimes in 33 minutes of action.
In the opening half, both teams battled back and forth over the first ten minutes with neither squad collecting more than a four-point lead. With 8:40 remaining in the first half, the visiting Lady Thunderbirds grabbed a six-point advantage (24-18) following a three-pointers by Amy Russell. Corban battled back within two points (24-22) via a fast break lay-up by freshman Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.) with 7:37 showing on the clock. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Cascade used a 6-0 run over a span of 2:17 to go up by eight points (30-22) with 5:20 left in the opening half. The host Warriors go as close as three points (32-29) with 98 seconds left following a jumper by Steigleman, but Cascade scored the final six points of the half and took a nine-point lead (38-29) into the locker room.
In the second half, Corban used an 18-8 run over the opening 5:38 en route to securing a slim one-point lead (47-46) as Steigleman connected on her lone three-pointer of the evening. Immediately following the run, Cascade used an 11-0 run of its own to capture a 10-point lead (57-47). From that point on, the visiting Lady T-birds never looked back as the Warriors never got any closer and finished the night with the final deficit of ten points (72-62).
Along with the aforementioned trio, junior Ashley Connell (Spokane, Wash.) and a trio of Warriors added five and two points respectively. Meanwhile, Peterson aided Steigleman's efforts on the boards with a season-high eight boards.
Cascade was led by Robin Swain, who scored a team-high 19 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field to go along with a 2-for-6 performance from beyond the arc and a 7-for-9 showing at the free throw line. Along with Swain, Russell, Te Awhina Aranui, and Raquel Morin also scored in double figures with 16, 15, and 15 points respectively. Both Russell and Aranui registered double-doubles with a game-high tying 10 rebounds each, while Swain handed out a team-high six assists.
As a team, Corban shot 25-for-65 (38.5%) from the field including 3-for-14 (21.4%) from behind the three-point line and 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the free throw line. On the other hand, Cascade was 24-for-61 (39.3%) from the field that included performances of 9-for-22 (40.9%) from beyond the arc and 15-for-19 (78.9%) from the charity stripe.
With the loss, Corban falls to 9-19 overall, 5-13 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Cascade improves to 13-14 overall, 6-12 in CCC action. The Warriors will return to the floor on Friday, February 22nd, when Corban travels south to take on the NAIA's No. 18-ranked Red Raiders of Southern Oregon beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Ashland.