Senior Tess Bennett scored a game-high 22 points in Corban's final game at the KER Classic against tournament host Whitman Saturday inside the Sherwood Center in Walla Walla, Washington.
Corban Closes Out Classic With Loss to Whitman
BOX SCORE
WALLA WALLA, Wash. – In its final game at the KER Classic, Corban University fell to tournament host Whitman, 79-48, Saturday inside the Sherwood Center despite a game-high 22 points by senior Tess Bennett.
Today's results drops Corban to 3-9 overall, while Whitman improves to 8-1 on the season.
Along with Bennett's game-high scoring performance on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, sophomore Tara Vanweerdhuizen added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds to go along with a five-point, two-assist showing by freshman Julia Young. Senior Emily Tsugawa scored four points, while sophomore Haley Holboke added two points to go along with a host of one-point outputs by junior Alison Evans, sophomore Katherine Salness, sophomore Danielle Vanderstoel, and freshman Megan Benedict.
A back-and-forth game over the opening two-plus minutes that would result in a one-point lead (7-6) for Corban on a three-pointer by Tsugawa would be blown wide open thanks to a 19-3 run by Whitman over a span of seven minutes that gave the host Missionaries a 17-point cushion (27-10). Whitman would continue to extend its lead with the margin growing to as much as 22 points (43-21) on a Meghan White jumper with 4:13 on the clock. The home team would score the final nine points of the first half, as Whitman settled for a 28-point lead (52-24) at halftime.
The second half would be a much closer contest, as Whitman pushed its lead to a game-high 36 points (67-31) at the 10:19 mark. Corban would outscore the Missionaries by five points for the rest of the game for the final margin of 31 points (79-48), as Salness put in the Warriors' final point of the night with 2:37 remaining.
Whitman was led in scoring by Heather Johns and White with 16 points each, while Sarah Anderegg and Tiffani Traver also scored in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. Anderegg registered a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Johns handed out a game-high eight assists.
Corban would combine to shoot 16-for-54 (29.6%) from the field, while going 3-for-13 (23.1%) from beyond the three-point line and 13-for-21 (61.9%) from the free throw line. On the other hand, Whitman was a combined 33-for-58 (56.9%) from the field that included a scorching 21-for-32 (65.6%) in the first half. The Missionaries were also 4-of-9 (44.4%) from long distance and 9-of-12 (75.0%) at the charity stripe.
The Warriors will enjoy a much-needed break in action this next week, as Corban takes part in fall semester finals before returning to action on Monday, December 17th, against The Evergreen State College beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Olympia, Washington.