Corban Women Named Team of the Week
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Corban University women’s basketball team, which has won nine of its last 10 games, has been named the “Verizon Team of the Week” in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, the conference office announced Sunday.
“It is an honor to have our team recognized in this way,” Corban women’s basketball head coach Terry Williams said. “I know probably other teams could have received the honor just as well. In our league, the teams have so much parity that anyone can defeat anyone else on any night. So to go 2-0 on any weekend is a big accomplishment for any of our teams. We feel very good about the weekend.”
The No. 21 Warriors (13-5, 7-2 Cascade Collegiate Conference) sit in a three-way tie for first place in the CCC with Oregon Tech and Eastern Oregon at the halfway point of the conference schedule. Corban picked up its second and third straight wins, the longest streak in the conference currently, Friday and Saturday at home over Warner Pacific College and Concordia University. The Warriors have won 10 of their 11 games inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center this season.
“I couldn't be prouder of our team right now,” Williams said. “We lost our All-American, Katie Steigleman, right after Christmas to a knee injury. Since then, we have gone 5-1. We are now 7-2 at the mid-point in conference play and in a three-way tie for first place. Our players are talented, but so are the other teams. There are five teams within one game of the conference lead. The other five teams are all capable of winning on any given night. To see our players step up and show what they are capable of doing in the absence of our All-American has been rewarding to us coaches.”
Friday, Corban won a thrilling overtime matchup against Warner Pacific, 63-62. The Warriors were powered by a double-double performance from Tess Bennett. The junior scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the second half and overtime. She added 12 rebounds and shot 7-for-16 from the field. Corban made 40 percent of its shots from the field, while holding the Knights to 31 percent shooting from the field.
“This past weekend was an odd one for us,” Williams said. “I feel like we were very lucky against Warner Pacific. They barely missed a basket that would have won the game in regulation. Then they missed two good attempts that would have won the game in overtime. I did not feel like we played our best by any means, but I do feel like we were very fortunate to get that win.”
The Warriors then used a big run late in the game in a 76-67 victory over Concordia Saturday. Corban went on a 19-6 run over a seven-minute span in the second half to pull out the win. Bennett and Shayla Fetters each finished with 15 points leading five double-digit scorers for Warriors. Emily Tsugawa threw a game-high 11 assists, and Tara Vanweerdhuizen tied the school-record for most blocked shots in a single game for the second time this season with a game-high seven rejections against the visiting Cavaliers.
“Against Concordia, I again did not feel like we played all that well,” Williams said. “Concordia played very hard and kept coming at us defensively. We managed a few runs in the game and that made all the difference. For both games, I feel like we played pretty good defense and fortunately, good defense managed to be the difference that allowed us a chance to be a two-time winner this past weekend.”
The Warriors will play their next three games on the road, including this weekend’s trips to Northwest University and The Evergreen State College. Corban knocked off the Eagles and Geoducks earlier this season in Salem.
“Probably the greatest attribute we have seen our team show is tenacity on defense,” Williams said. “Since we have lost Katie Steigleman, we have averaged holding our opponents to 59 points per game while we have averaged scoring 68 points per game, which is down from the 71 points per game we were scoring when Katie was playing. I think the team has determined that they have to pick it up defensively without Katie to win games and it is working pretty well so far. Our opponents over the past six games are shooting 31.4 percent from the field and 23.4 percent from beyond the three-point line as a testament to the impact of our increased effort defensively. We have out-rebounded our opponents by an average of 46.7 to 42 over those same six games as well.
“Having said all that and still believing our team is playing very well lately, I still believe there is a bit of luck in winning in our league with all the parity that exists. Our team is very deep in talent and that helps swing the tide in some games for certain. In short, we are a blessed team to be in the position we are in at this point in the season. The second half will be very exciting to see how tangled up we all can make it.”
Previous Verizon Team of the Week awardees.