SALEM, Ore. – With under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of today's matchup for the Corban University Women's Basketball team, No. 18-ranked Arizona Christian University clung to a two-possession lead that they had built over the course of the entire contest, leading by as many as nine early on day two of the 2025 Hampton Inn Classic. However, the Warriors shocked the Firestorm with a furious comeback bid thanks to the scoring prowess of a trio of upperclassmen that eventually resulted in their 91-87 final score over ACU, representing the first win over a nationally ranked opponent since the 2019-20 season and first under the direction of second-year head coach Kylie Frizell.
"Tonight was electric!" exclaimed Coach Frizell shortly following her team's nationally ranked upset victory. "Arizona Christian is a really good and well-coached team, and it was a back-and-forth offensive battle. I'm extremely proud of our team's resiliency down the stretch to get timely stops and buckets when we needed them most."
An early four-point lead for the Warriors (2-0) was quickly erased by a 21-8 run by the Firestorm (0-2) to end the first quarter, as ACU was able to hold Corban to a 30% field goal percentage for the period and scoreless from beyond the three-point arc. However, a porous offensive opening quarter was followed by a fervent second quarter of scoring for the Navy and Gold, hitting nearly 70% of their shots taken to flip a nine-point deficit into a two-point halftime lead.
A contest that featured eight lead changes flip flopped once again in the third, as Arizona Christian emerged from their locker room with a defensive passion reignited that held the Warriors to just four made shots in total and eventually trailed entering the fourth and final quarter.
With 3:15 remaining in the game, Firestorm guard Kristina Blaumann drilled a three-pointer to extend the ACU lead to 83-77, yet rather than buckling under the pressure on their home court, Corban rose to the occasion and found their own triple from redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta.
Following an errant shot attempt by Arizona Christian on the proceeding possession, junior guard Tayla Yost found redshirt junior guard Jenna Albrecht sprinting to the hoop for the easy layup to pull Corban to within a point, and after another down-and-back defensively, Yost drained a three from the top of the arc to provide the Warriors with the final lead change of the afternoon. ACU was unable to convert offensively on the next possession and as the shot clock was expiring for the Navy and Gold, Albrecht was left all alone under the basket and Yost delivered her second assist to the Bend native in three offensive possessions.
Huerta would be fouled on three separate instances down the stretch and converted on four of her six free throw attempts to eventually clinch the program's first nationally ranked win in a seven-season span.
On Yost's game-changing triple, Huerta secured her tenth assist of the contest and eventually finished with a season-high 33 points in just her second game as a Warrior to register the program's first double-double of the young season. Albrecht and Yost pitched in 16 and 15 points, respectively, with Albrecht hauling in seven rebounds along the way.
Arizona Christian forward Emily Till secured a double-double outing of her own with 22 points and 11 boards, while guard Taylor Schwab led all Firestorm student-athletes with 25 points and dished out four assists. The ACU starters contributed 79 points towards tonight's final score, with their bench responsible for just eight points in 50 available minutes.
With their opening weekend now all wrapped up, the Warriors will turn their attention to yet another Golden State Athletic Conference opponent in a receiving-votes (RV) Hope International University squad (1-0), as the Royals will visit Tim Hills Court on Thursday, November 6th at 7:30pm in the Navy and Gold's final home matchup of November.
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