Williams Announces Corban's Recruits for Upcoming 2012-13 Season
SALEM, Ore. – Corban University's head women's basketball coach Terry Williams announced Wednesday that he has signed six players to Cascade Collegiate Conference Letters of Intent for the upcoming 2012-13 season that includes a quartet of out-of-state players and two Oregonians.
"We have really addressed the loss of key scoring due to graduation with the addition of our new freshman class," said Williams. "We still have our very strong inside play but with the incoming freshman class, we have brought in strong 3-point scoring threats also to make our team very hard to defend with such an inside-outside offensive threat."
This year's class includes six freshmen – Nikki Bond (Battle Ground, Wash.), Heidi Eckmann (Anchorage, Alaska), Alli Ehrhardt (Rogue River, Ore.), Jade Lowery (Oregon City, Ore.), Kendra Staymates (Selah, Wash.), and Julia Young (Snohomish, Wash.) – that should help the Warriors replace nearly 46% of the team's scoring from last season.
Bond, A 5-foot-6 guard, was the Warriors' first signee of the year coming from Battle Ground High School. Despite suffering a knee injury during her sophomore season, Bond earned first team all-league honors as a freshman and junior with the Tigers. During her freshman season, Bond was named first team all-region and earned second team all-region honors following her junior campaign. As a senior, Bond helped lead Battle Ground to the WIAA state tournament. Along with her high school accomplishments, Bond also played club for the Mid-Valley Monarchs under former Warrior assistant coach Ron Hittner.
"Nikki has the capability of changing a game very fast with her explosive scoring potential," said Williams.
Eckmann, a 5-foot-7 wing player, comes to Corban from Grace Christian School in Alaska. With the Grizzlies, Eckmann was the team leader in points, assists, steals, and blocks during both her junior and senior seasons en route to earning 1st team all-conference honors. Eckmann was named team captain prior to her senior season before earning Most Valuable Player honors after her final high school campaign.
"Heidi comes in as another outside scoring threat to provide the Warriors more depth in the guard position," commented Williams.
Ehrhardt, a 5-foot-9 guard, will return to the site of her MVP performances in the OACA All-Star Series this fall after playing four years at Rogue River High School under her father, Dave. The all-time leading scorer in Rogue River history, Ehrhardt helped lead the Chieftains to the OSAA state tournament as a sophomore and senior and was also named 1st team all-league and all-state in 2012.
"Allison does many things very well as a swing player," said Williams. "Alli shoots very well, drives to the basket strong, runs the floor and rebounds effectively as well. All three of these scorers will make our up-scale offense even better."
Lowery, a 5-foot-6 guard/forward, comes to Corban from nearby Oregon City High School where she was a two-year player for the Pioneers following a move from Arizona. A two-time team captain, Lowery helped lead Oregon City to the Three Rivers League championship as a senior after the Pioneers finished third in the OSAA 6A state tournament in 2011. During her high school career, Lowery earned back-to-back all-region honors and was named the MLK Comcast Showcase Player of the Game as a junior.
"Jade does a lot of things with the ball in addition to her outside shooting, commented Williams. "She drives very well, passes to the open player well and makes the transition game come alive. She is a very hard, physical defensive player also."
Staymates, a 6-foot-1 forward, will be a two-sport athlete for the Warriors competing in both basketball and volleyball. The former Riverside Christian School three-sport athlete scored over 1,140 points during her career en route to earning three straight first team all-league honors. Staymates was team captain as a sophomore, junior, and senior, while being named first team WIAA 2B All-State as a senior.
"Kendra is a swing player that also brings outside scoring to compliment her inside game," said Williams. "As a volleyball-basketball player, Kendra will get a late start, but her athleticism will soon be apparent to our fans as they see her ability to score, block shots, rebound and run our transition game."
Young, a 5-foot-8 guard, comes to Corban from Snohomish High School in Washington where she was a three-time all-league honoree earning first team honors as a senior. A three-time Everett Herald Player of the Week and KRKO Radio Player of the Game during her high school career, Young capped her prep career by being selected to take part in the Washington State 4A All-Star Game.
"Julia provides an all-around game on both ends of the floor that will make her one of the top players in our conference," commented Williams.
The aforementioned six student-athletes will join 12 returning players from last season's Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season champions that were 24-8 overall, including 15-3 in league play.
"We are very excited about this group of new players coming into the Warriors women's basketball program," said Williams. "They will complement our excellent group of returning players, which should once again make us a contender for the title of the tough Cascade Conference championship. Every school seems to be better so it will be a great season of competition and we will have to blend our talent to its best effectiveness to repeat again, but I think the incoming group of new players gives us an excellent chance of winning."
The Warriors are scheduled to tip-off the 2012-13 season with an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I powerhouse Stanford on Thursday, November 1st, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. One night later, Corban will officially begin its regular season against fellow NAIA member Menlo beginning at 4:00 p.m. in Atherton, California.