SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University women's basketball team had four players score in double figures in a hard-fought Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) loss, 86-77, against the Lady Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Halle Wright led all scorers with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, while hitting 9-of-11 free throws in the process. Wright was aided by a trio of Warriors – Shaelie Burgess, Holly Golenor, and Gemma Lavergne
– who scored 17, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Wright also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds with Burgess and Golenor aiding with six and five rebounds, respectively. Wright also teamed with Karlie Gerlinger to hand out a team-best four assists each, while Burgess registered a pair of steals.
In the opening four minutes of the game, Oregon Tech jumped out to a 7-2 lead on back-to-back free throws by Courtney Clemmer. Corban battled back via a 5-0 run to tie the game at 7-all on a jumper by Lavergne with 4:15 on the clock. OIT's Emma McKenney answered back with a 6-0 run of her own on two straight three-pointers, as the Lady Owls went ahead 13-7 with 3:18 left. Corban would get within a single point (13-12) on a fast break lay-in by Lee Audrey Norris before Oregon Tech closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run resulting in a 19-12 lead.
Quarter #2 began with Oregon Tech extended its lead to as much as eight points (26-18) before Corban used a 10-2 run to tie the score at 28-all on a Lavergne jumper with 3:36 left in the opening half. Both teams traded baskets over the next two-and-a-half minutes until Oregon Tech closed the first 20 minutes of play on a 4-0 run resulting in a 37-33 lead at halftime.
Out of the locker room, Corban used an 8-3 run to pull ahead 41-40 on back-to-back free throws by Burgess with 7:17 on the clock. Neither team would lead by more than four points over the next six minutes until Oregon Tech once again closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to secure a six-point advantage (60-54) heading into the game's final 10 minutes of action.
The fourth quarter began with Corban scoring six of the first eight points to pull within a single bucket (62-60) on a jumper by Golenor at the 8:20 mark. The Navy and Gold would get within two points twice more, but were never able to get any closer. Over the final 1:21 of the game, Corban was forced to foul and Oregon Tech hit 10-of-11 free throws to secure the victory, 86-77.
Oregon Tech was led offensively by Clemmer with 15 points, while five other Lady Owls – McKinney, Beth Derner, Maddyson Tull, Melissa Lee, and Abby Kreiser – also scored in double figures with 14, 13, 12, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Clemmer also led OIT's rebounding efforts with a game-high eight boards, while Lee tallied seven rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.
Both teams will battle it out once again tomorrow – Saturday, March 27 – beginning at noon inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.