CHENEY, Wash. – The explosive home opener for NCAA DI Eastern Washington University came at the cost of the Corban University Women's Basketball team, as the Eagles opened up a 21-point first half lead on the Warriors and despite a shaky second half by the hometown team, never looked back in a 72-47 victory.
"I was very happy with how the team competed tonight," head coach Bill Pilgeram shared following his team's efforts in eastern Washington this evening. "They played a full 40 minutes and showed grit on both ends of the floor. This game will only make us better and we are ready to head into CCC action after a much deserved Thanksgiving break."
The Warriors (1-4), who utilized this contest as an exhibition for the program and thus didn't receive a record update following the conclusion of the game, kept the contest close through the opening five minutes and trailed 11-9 following the first media timeout. The trend continued into the first quarter break when they were looking to overcome a single-digit deficit at 20-11 entering the second quarter.
However, the Eagles (3-0) were able to double-up Corban in the second period, scoring 24 points to lead 44-23 at the halftime break. Despite nine first half turnovers, the Warriors were able to hold their own through a majority of the opening half against their NCAA DI opponent by shooting 34.5% from the field. Freshman guard Lizzy Bennett was the team leader through 20 minutes of play with six points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
Coach Pilgeram's defense had quite possibly their best performance of the young season in the second half against Eastern Washington, as they allowed only 28 points in the entire final 20 minutes of play to the Eagles while scoring 24 points of their own, including an impressive 17-6 outscoring of EWU in the fourth quarter alone.
Bennett concluded her evening with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, while fellow freshman guard Autumn Agnew came off the bench and provided another 11 points of her own and added four rebounds. Freshman guard Teayona Hoard was everywhere on the boards tonight, hauling in a team-high seven rebounds with a pair of second chance opportunities for Corban.
The Eagles saw four different players reach double-digits in scoring this evening on their home court, led by guard Aaliyah Alexander and forward Jaydia Martin who each tallied 13 points apiece. Guard Jacinta Buckley added 10 points with a game-high four steals on the defensive end of the floor, while guard Jamie Loera tacked on another 10 points and dealt out a game-high three assists.
The Navy and Gold will begin the 2023-24 Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season slate on December 1st in Portland, beginning their conference opening weekend with Multnomah University (1-0) at 5:30pm.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l Snapchat l YouTube l Email
Download our App: iOS (iPhone/iPad) l Android