Junior Jennesa Miller tied for the team lead in scoring Friday against Northwest Christian, as Corban clinched a playoff berth against an opponent that is TBA.
Miller's Game-Winner Sends Corban to Playoffs
BOX SCORE
EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Jennesa Miller (Mica, Wash.) hit the game-winning shot with 6.8 seconds left coupled with a steal by freshman Emily Tsugawa (Gladstone, Ore.) on the game’s final possession, as Corban's women's basketball picked up a nail-biting, come-from-behind victory over Northwest Christian, 59-58, Friday evening inside the Morse Event Center.
With tonight's win, Corban concludes the regular season at 13-17 overall and 8-10 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian finishes its 2009-10 campaign at 8-19 overall and 2-16 in league play.
Trailing by one with 19 seconds remaining, Corban got the ball and were the recipients of a deflected ball out-of-bounds with just under seven seconds showing on the clock. Following a timeout, Tsugawa found Miller underneath the basket, as the third-year Warrior fought through a pair of NCU defenders to knock down a turn-around lay-in that automatically clinched a playoff spot for Corban with the opponent still to be determined pending tomorrow night's outcomes.
Miller scored a game-high tying 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, while freshman Tess Bennett (Sutherlin, Ore.) added an identical 13 points off the bench on 4-for-9 shooting from the field to go along with a 5-for-8 performance at the free throw line. On the boards, Miller combined with two other Warriors – Bennett and sophomore Katie Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) – to pull down a game-high tying five rebounds to go along with Tsugawa’s game-high seven assists.
“Tonight’s win feels good, as it was find out a rough start to the game,” said Miller. “[The game-winning shot] was set up the same was as our last play. I was open for the roll, Mo was open for the screen, or Katie was open for the jumper. We had a lot of options and I just happened to be the one tonight.”
The first half was a back and forth battle throughout, as neither team secured more than a four-point lead (21-17) following a Bennett jumper with 6:18 remaining. There would be six ties and eight lead changes in the opening half, as the visiting Warriors netted the final three points via a free throw by sophomore Becky Buhler (Clackamas, Ore.) and a jumper by fellow sophomore Kira Lyon (Salem, Ore.) for a slim two-point half time lead (24-22).
In the second half, Northwest Christian grabbed a three-point lead (34-31) thanks to a Katie Monteith lay-in with 13:49 left. Corban would battle back to take a game-high five-point advantage (44-39) thanks to a 13-5 run that was capped via a pair of Bennett free throws with 10:45 showing on the clock. Both teams would fight tooth and nail over the next four minutes, as the 11th and final tie came at 51-51 thanks to a Miller lay-in with 6:45 left. Northwest Christian would secure its final lead at 58-57 thanks to a Kelsey Bolander lay-in with 19 seconds left to set-up Corban’s game-winning heroics in the final 10 seconds.
“I had talked with the coaching staff before the game and told them that if we came away with a one-point win that I would be happy,” said eleventh-year head coach Terry Williams. “The other coaches did not think that would happen, but I knew that [Northwest Christian] would come out and play because they always look forward to playing us on their home floor.”
Northwest Christian was led in scoring by Calie McVicker, who tallied a game-high tying 13 points on 2-for-9 shooting from the field to go along with a 7-for-10 performance at the free throw line. The Beacon senior was aided scoring-wise by Bolander and Monteith, who tallied nine points each on a combined 8-for-15 shooting from the field. Rebounding-wise, the host Beacons were led by Bolander and Jenneca Crocker, who grabbed a game-high tying five rebounds each to go along with McVicker’s team-leading three assists.
As a team, Corban shot 22-for-52 (42.3%) from the field to go along with a 3-for-11 (27.3%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 12-for-24 (50.0%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Northwest Christian was 19-for-62 (30.6%) from the field, 7-for-29 (24.1%) from long distance, and 13-for-19 (68.4%) from the charity stripe.
Even though Corban has wrapped up the tournament’s No. 6 seed, the Warriors will have to wait twenty-four hours before finding out where they will travel for the opening round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament on Tuesday, February 23rd, as all other conference teams still have one more game on their regular season schedule tomorrow night.