Corban battled Westmont on Friday afternoon, but ultimately fell, 84-75. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University women’s basketball team hosted NAIA Division I opponent, Westmont College, on Friday afternoon, and despite shooting 49.1% for the contest, Corban fell to Westmont, 84-75. The loss is Corban’s first of the year, while for Westmont, it marks a season-opening win.
Both teams began the game on fire, as after just four minutes, the game was tied at 12-12, with neither team missing a beat on the offensive end. After Westmont took a 17-12 lead, Corban senior center Tara Van Weerdhuizen (Spokane, Wash.) made a layup immediately after entering the contest and then sank a jumper the next time down the floor. Then, after forcing a turnover, junior guard Chris Carlson (Silver Lake, Wash.) nailed a three-pointer to give the Warriors a two-point advantage.
After the two teams traded free throws and a few made buckets, the Navy and Gold trailed, 32-27, but Corban then used a 10-2 run to nab a 37-34 advantage with just under five minutes remaining in the first stanza. Junior guard Jade Lowery (Oregon City, Ore.) capped off the run with a jumper, while sophomore forward Sadie Pilgeram (Helena, Mont.) nailed a long-range effort during the spurt as well.
Westmont responded immediately, however, closing out the half on a 15-0 run to head into the break leading, 49-37.
During the first 20 minutes, Corban shot at an impressive clip of 53.8%, while Westmont notched a solid shooting percentage as well of 52.9%. The difference in the first half proved to be Westmont’s efforts from long range, as it sank seven three-pointers to help build its halftime advantage.
The Navy and Gold fought back right away to begin the second stanza, as Van Weerdhuizen sank a jumper in the paint and Pilgeram drained another shot from downtown, bringing Corban to within five. A couple of possessions later, Lowery nailed another three-pointer for the Warriors, bringing the team even closer.
From that point forward, both teams continued to play tenacious defense while trying to execute offensively, and with 3:35 remaining on the clock in regulation, Corban pulled to within three points when Lowery converted on an and-one opportunity, making it a 72-69 contest.
That would be as close as the Navy and Gold would get, however, as Westmont converted on its chances at the charity stripe and eventually pulled away down the stretch, hanging on to hand Corban its first loss of the 2014-15 campaign.
With the game being very even overall, the difference proved to be Westmont (1-0) holding the fast-break points advantage, 12-2. Corban actually scored more second-chance points (13-11), and tallied more points off of turnovers overall, 29-15, but Westmont held the bench-scoring edge at 29-24. Throughout the game, there were 11 lead changes, with all of those coming in the first half.
Leading the way offensively for Corban was Lowery with 24 points on a 9-for-17 shooting effort to go along with a team-best six rebounds and four assists. Off the bench, Van Weerdhuizen added 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting in addition to grabbing five boards and blocking five shots. Additionally, Pilgeram also finished the afternoon in double-figures with 11 points and four assists.
As a team, the Warriors finished the game shooting 49.1% from the field (28-for-57), while going just 12-of-18 from the free-throw line (66.7%). Westmont went 20-for-26 from the line (76.9%) and also shot 46.6% from the field (27-of-58). Moreover, Westmont racked up 10 long-range efforts on the afternoon at a 45.5% clip.
Individually, Kristin Karr notched a team-high 19 points for Westmont, while Lauren McCoy tallied 18 points and eight boards.
“The Corban Warriors showed the kind of heart they have been giving every day in practice with a gutsy performance against an NAIA D-1 program this afternoon,” stated head coach Dave Bale. “Westmont is an excellent team with a great tradition, and we went toe to toe with them for 40 minutes. We shot the ball really well and applied very good pressure. The ladies know giving up good looks to two very good shooters hurt us and we will work on that aspect of our game.”
Corban (2-1) returns to the court next Friday when it takes to the road for a three-game road trip. First game is set for Friday at 4:30 p.m. against MSU Northern (Mont.).