Corban's Tara Vanweerdhuizen defense helped hold Concordia to 37.9 percent shooting from the field on Friday.
Corban Thwarts Cavs' Upset Bid
STATS - Concordia vs. Corban
PORTLAND, Ore.—Tied at the break, No. 10-ranked Corban University pulled away in the final minutes to defeat Concordia University 79-72 on Friday night.
In a matchup of teams with opposite performance streaks, Corban, the top team in the CCC, notched its ninth straight win to improve to 19-5 overall and 13-2 in the CCC while Concordia fell to 7-19 and 3-12 in league play with its seventh straight loss.
In a game which featured a dozen lead changes and seven ties, Corban connected on its final 12 free throws to finish off the Cavs.
Tess Bennett started the string at the 3:06 mark while teammate Emily Tsugawa knocked down 6-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe. Shayla Fetters and Katie Steigleman hit on both their attempts in the final seconds to complete the series and seal the win.
After a tie at the 11:42 mark, Corban opened up an eight-point lead on a Bennett layup. Bennett would go on to score pivotal layups at 6:07 and 5:04 remaining en route to 10 second-half points for the junior forward.
The Cavs cut the deficit to five on three occasions in the waning moments. Rachel Scarpelli knocked down a three at 3:28 remaining to make it a 63-58 game while Lexi Amundsen got a bucket in the paint for a 65-60 contest.
Trailing by 10 with a minute to play, Concordia forced three turnovers and knocked down a pair of long-distance shots to pressure the Warriors in the final minute.
Earlier, Tess Bennett opened the scoring in the first half with a Corban layup before Yates and Scarpelli responded with five straight for the Cavs. From there, the Warriors went on a 12-2 run to stake a 14-7 lead.
The Cavs continued to chip into the deficit with the help of two more Scarpelli 3-pointers and eventually took the lead on a May layup at the 7:09 mark. Over the final seven minutes the teams would stay within two points of each other as the Warriors got key threes of their own from Steigleman and Fetters.
After enjoying just one tie over the first 17:30 of the first half, the two squads knotted the game on three occasions down the stretch, the final coming via an Emily Tsugawa jumper with 13 seconds remaining.
Overall, Corban slightly outshot the Cavs on their home court, finishing with a 40.9 percent conversion rate compared to 37.9 percent for Concordia. The Warriors also took a slight advantage on the boards, grabbing 40 caroms to 39 for the Cavs.
All five starters reached double-figures for Corban with Tsugawa leading the charge with 19 points. Besides her, Bennett finished with 16, while Seigleman and Vanweerdhuizen scored 14 each.
Scarpelli paced the Cavs with 19 points and was followed by 11 each from Amundsen and May.
Next up, the Cavs will stay at home to face Northwest Christian tomorrow, Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Corban will return to Portland to face Warner Pacific College.