NU's Jessica Wilkerson scored a game high 31 points tonight.
Wilkerson's 31 Leads NU Over Corban
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Senior Jessica Wilkerson scored 31 points in leading the Northwest University women to a 72-64 Cascade Conference win over Corban College tonight.
Wilkerson (Sr., Issaquah, Wash.) hit 11 of 21 shots including 7 for 10 from the 3-point line and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Eagles (11-7, 7-3 CCC).
In a close first half, Northwest jumped out to an early 11-7 lead but a Becky Buhler layup and driving layup by Katie Steigelman would tie the score at 11-11 with 12:06 left until halftime. With the score knotted up again at 13-all, Northwest’s Jessalyn Jackson dropped a jumper from 10 feet out to put the Eagles up, 15-13, with 8:43 to go. Two free throws by NU’s Erika Hornyak would give NU a 24-17 lead (5:26), but Corban’s Ashlee Jensen would hit a 3-pointer to pull the Warriors to within four points, 24-20, at the 5:09 mark. Four straight points by Jessalyn Jackson would give NU its largest lead of the half, 28-20, but Corban would roar back on a driving layup by MoniqueTribble and two free throws by Tess Bennett to make it, 28-24 with 2:04 left on the clock. Neither team would score the remainder of the half as NU would take the lead into the locker room.
Northwest would lead the entire second half but each time they would put some distance between themselves and the Warriors, Corban would battle back to challenge the Eagles. With NU leading 39-34 (12:59), Corban would go on a 4-0 run to make it 39-38. Then NU would go on an 11-0 run of their own to stretch their lead to 50-38 capped off by Jessica Wilkerson’s jumper from the right side with 8:28 to go in the game. Marielle McKean would put NU up by 13 points, 61-48, at the 4:38 mark as they would close out the game on their way to their 11th win of the season and improve their conference mark to 7-3.
Erika Hornyak (Jr., Everett, Wash.) and Jessalyn Jackson (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.) each added 14 points for Northwest. Jackson completed the double-double with 12 rebounds on the night. NU out rebounded Corban, 46-45. NU shot 38% on the night from 2-point FG range and 39% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Corban’s (8-14, 3-7 CCC) Katie Steigleman recorded a double-double with her team high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Becky Buhler added 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Warriors who shot 34% from 2-point range and 35% from the 3-point line.
Both teams continue league play tomorrow night as Northwest U. hosts Northwest Christian and Corban travels to Olympia to take on the Evergreen State College. Both games tip off at 5:30 p.m.