Jade Lowery came back from an injury and helped lead Corban to a win over Northwest, as the second-year Warrior poured in a season-high 20 points Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Lowery Helps Lead Corban Past Eagles of Northwest
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – After missing one game with a slight knee injury, Jade Lowery returned with vengeance in the final game before Christmas for Corban University with the Warriors earning a 62-54 Cascade Collegiate Conference victory over Northwest University Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center to remain unbeaten in league play so far this season.
Corban (7-7, 3-0 CCC) evened its overall record, as Lowery led all players with a game-high 20 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting from the field that included a 3-for-6 performance from beyond the three-point line to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Lowery was aided offensively by Julia Young with 14 points, as Tara Vanweerdhuizen chipped in with eight points, six rebounds, and a game-high five blocked shots. Vanweerdhuizen and Sadie Pilgeram led the Warriors with two assists each, while Lowery registered a game-high tying three steals.
Northwest (9-5, 2-2 CCC) was led offensively by Jordan Asher with 16 points, while Alyssa Dario was the only other Eagle in double figures with 11. On the boards, Dario grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go along with three assists each by Dario and Asher.
The game would begin with Northwest scoring the first nine points over a five-plus minute span until Corban finally got on the board on a pair of free throws by Young. The shots at the charity stripe by Young spearheaded an 11-0 run over a span of three minutes, as the host Warriors built a slim two-point lead (11-9) on a fast break lay-in by Lowery following a steal at the defensive end with 10:24 on the clock. Corban would use a 10-4 run over the next seven minutes en route to building an eight-point lead (21-13) on a fast break lay-in by Katherine Salness with 3:24 remaining. After the host Warriors secured a seven-point cushion (23-16), Northwest closed out the half on an 8-2 run cutting Corban's lead to just one point (25-24) at halftime after Corinne Burke nailed two free throws for the Eagles to close out the scoring over the opening twenty minutes.
Corban began the second half on a 16-4 run, as the Warriors pushed their lead to 13 points (41-28) on a jumper in the paint by Salness with 12:23 left. Northwest would get within three points on two separate occasions, as back-to-back free throws by Asher made the score 47-44 in favor of the home team with 5:43 on the clock. Four unanswered points by Corban would push the Warriors' lead back to seven points (51-44) on a three-pointer by Lowery with 3:19 left. After Northwest got within five points (51-46) at the 2:44 mark, Corban was forced to hit free throws with the Warriors going a combined 11-for-15 over the final two-plus minutes and held the visiting Eagles to just eight points en route to securing the 62-54 victory that keeping Corban tied atop the conference standings with No. 24-ranked Eastern Oregon.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 16-for-51 (31.4%) from the field that included a 6-for-24 (25.0%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 24-for-36 (66.7%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Northwest was a combined 18-for-65 (27.7%) from the field, 4-for-25 (16.0%) from long distance, and 14-for-15 (93.3%) at the charity stripe.
Both teams will return to action after Christmas in non-conference games on Saturday, December 28th, as Corban travels to Eugene to take on New Hope Christian and Northwest battled Whitworth at home.