SPOKANE, Wash. – The Corban University Women’s Basketball team (1-1, 0-0) earned their first win of the season on the road at NCAA DIII Whitworth University (0-0, 0-0) this afternoon, hitting 42.9% of their shots to walk out of Spokane with the 78-75 win.
“It was another great effort from the entire team today, and getting a win on the road is always great,” Warriors’ Head Coach Bill Pilgeram said following his team’s hard fought win.
“Defense and turning the rebound total in our favor in the second half were huge keys to winning this game. Gemma came off the bench to give us a big lift offensively with five three-pointer,” Pilgeram continued.
In an exhibition contest for the Pirates, the Warriors managed to keep a tight race through the first half of the contest, trailing by only two points after a first quarter that featured three ties and six lead changes. The Bucs jacked eight three-pointers, only making three of them, while Corban focused on scoring points in the paint with half of their score coming from layups and midrange jumpers.
Corban was able to expand the ball to beyond the arc in the second quarter, riding three-point shots from sophomore Gemma LaVergne and three other Warriors to take a five-point lead into the halftime break. Senior forward Holly Golenor led the Warriors with 10 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.
A slight Pirates’ comeback was created in the third quarter off drives and fouls in the act of shooting by Corban, allowing Whitworth to scrap their way back into a single possession contest with just 10 minutes left to play. Six Warriors’ turnovers provided the Bucs with the shooting opportunities, something they had been able to keep to a minimum up until this point in the contest.
LaVergne just could not miss from beyond the three-point line in the Warriors’ contest today, hitting her fifth three of the game early in the fourth quarter to stretch Corban’s lead, and giving her 17 points on the day thus far.
The Warriors and Pirates battled down the stretch, with junior guard Maddie Godwin finding an open lane with under 8.0 seconds remaining to grow their lead to 78-75. The Bucs nearly turned the ball over down the court but managed to call timeout to give themselves one final shot with 1.9 seconds remaining.
In a last second gambit, Whitworth bobbled the ball at the three-point line, managing to get a shot off anyways, but forward Olivia Mayer’s foot was over the line anyways and would have still given Corban the victory should she had made the shot.
LaVergne finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 5-for-6 from beyond the three-point line, adding three assists along the way. Golenor was the only student-athlete this afternoon to nab a double-double, dropping 13 points and scooping up 13 rebounds to power Corban in the key.
Godwin added 14 points and was all over the court for Corban, hauling in three boards, snaking two steals, and passing out a pair of dimes.
Bucs’ Mayer dropped a game-high 21 points for Whitworth in their season-opening exhibition, scoring on 40% of her field goal attempts and bringing down six rebounds in the process. Forward Devyn Cope provided seven points and seven rebounds, while guard Sydney McLean added 14 points on 83.3% shooting.
Corban Women’s Basketball will continue their road trip in Washington over to Cheney this evening, as they will compete in their first exhibition contest of the 2022-23 season tomorrow evening against NCAA DI Eastern Washington University at 6pm PST.
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