Balanced Night Leads Warriors to Second Straight Win

Corban improves to 7-4 overall, while Linfield falls to 3-3 on the season.

Senior Tosha Wilson had another solid game with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, as she helped led the Warriors to their second straight win Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Corban J-lab Photography Class)

SALEM - With six players scoring at least four points each led by senior Jessi Norton's game-high 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, Corban's women's basketball team out-lasted NCAA D-III member Linfield, 70-55, to pick up its second straight win on Thursday.

Senior Tosha Wilson and junior Jessica Steigleman aided Norton with 16 and 11 points respectively, while shooting a combined 11-for-21 from the field.

Wilson also added 5 rebounds, a game-high 5 assists, and a game-high 3 steals in 35 minutes of action.

Corban came out and scored the first five points of the game in just over two minutes before the visiting Wildcats got on the board. Linfield used a 7-2 run over a 1:25 span to knot the game at 7-all before grabbing its lone lead of the game (9-7) with 14:32 remaining in the opening half.

The Warriors pushed their lead to as much as 14 (31-17) thanks to a 24-8 run over a span of 12:11 ending with a 3-pointer by senior Kendall Dionne.

Corban capped the first half scoring with an old fashion 3-point play by Norton with five seconds remaining and took a 13-point cushion (34-21) into the locker room.

In the second half, Linfield cut the lead to as little as eight (51-43) with 6:59 remaining on the clock thanks to a lay-up by Casey Stepan.

In the first 13:01 of the final half, the visiting Wildcats used a 20-17 run to cut the Warriors' lead down only to watch as Dionne nailed a shot from about 25 feet before fellow senior Brianne Carras took over the boards and nailed a pair of free throws to extend Corban's lead to 13 (58-45) with 5:51 to go.

An unconventional 4-point play by Norton, along with back-to-back lay-ups by Norton and Wilson, allowed the Warriors pushed their lead to 18 (66-48) and put the final nail in Linfield's coffin with 3:48 remaining.

Timely shooting and outstanding ball control over the final three-plus minutes helped Corban extend its winning streak to two games, including winning 5 of its last 6 contests.

Carras ended the game with 9 points and a game-high 12 rebounds (including five offensive boards), while Dionne and freshman Hillary Sell rounded out the Warriors' scoring with 6 and 4 points respectively.

Corban shot 26-for-55 (47.3%) from the field, while hitting 92.9% (13-for-14) from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Linfield shot 21-for-58 (36.2%) from the field, including a mere 7-for-9 (77.8%) from the charity stripe.

Linfield was led by Stepan's team-high 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, including 3-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

Jamie Godfrey added 12 points off the bench and Porcia Jackson poured in 11 points, including 6 in the opening half.

The Wildcats' leading scorer -- Sara Burgoyne -- was held to a mere 5 points on 2-for-10 shooting from the field, but did grab a team-high 7 rebounds.

The Warriors are back in action on Saturday, when they travel north to Tacoma, Washington, for a match-up with the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran beginning at 7:00 PM in the Evergreen State.

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