PORTLAND, Ore. – While the offense wasn't as efficient as Warrior Nation supporters have become accustomed to seeing from the RV Corban University Women's Basketball team as of late, the Navy and Gold found the stops they needed on the defensive end of the court late to hold off the River Otters of NCAA DIII Lewis & Clark College at the Pamplin Sports Center. Lewis & Clark kept pace with Corban for all but the final five minutes of today's contest, with the Warriors able to pull away late and keep their undefeated record intact heading into Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action.
Despite entering the contest at 2-2 overall with all four prior contests coming on their home court and included a loss to fellow CCC program Northwest University, the River Otters (2-3) were able to keep pace with the Warriors (7-0) and their high-scoring offense through the opening half, always remaining within striking distance and trailing by just seven points at the break with Corban converting on just 38.9% of their field goal attempts and committing eight turnovers.
Neither program was shooting well from beyond the three-point arc thanks to a combined 3-for-23 effort, with the biggest difference coming at the free throw line as the Navy and Gold barely hit 50% of their attempts while L&C missed all but one. Exiting the halftime break, the River Otters came out on a 12-5 run to knot the matchup up at 42-all.
The back-and-forth momentum swings continued midway through the fourth quarter before the Warriors finally distanced themselves enough while holding Lewis & Clark scoreless over the final two minutes to gut out the 76-67 victory. Despite the continued free throw shooting struggles, the Navy and Gold turned on the defensive intensity over the final River Otter possessions to remain perfect in 2025-26.
Slowly but surely, the Warriors' offense returned to marginally higher field goal percentages over the course of Tuesday's contest, led by redshirt sophomore guard Jersey Huerta and her game-high 21 points, along with the game-best assist mark of four while tying teammate and graduate student center Emilia Bishop for the game-high in steals with three. Bishop secured her third double-double of the season behind ten points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Junior guard Tayla Yost (13), senior forward Mandie Jensen (11), and redshirt senior guard Tori Younker (11) all posted double-digit point totals as well to secure the non-conference road victory.
River Otters' guard Lauryn Frederickson scored a team-high 19 points with seven boards in an attempt to stave off the home loss, while guards Kaitlen Carns and Lilly Jordan scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. Forward Kaela Guidry secured 13 rebounds in the post for L&C, including five offensive boards.
Conference play officially kicks off next Tuesday, December 2nd on Tim Hills Court, as they Warriors will host I-5 rival Bushnell University (1-6) at 5:30pm in what will represent the first CCC contest across the Pacific Northwest of the 2025-26 season.
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