Corban Women Advance to CCC Tournament Semifinals

With its ninth straight victory, Corban pushes it overall record to 25-6.

Jessica Steigleman recorded a game-high 16 points as Corban College advanced to the CCC tournament semifinals with a 80-50 win over the Cavaliers of Concordia on Tuesday.

SALEM - Junior Jessica Steigleman and senior Tosha Wilson combined to score 31 points, as Corban's women's basketball team advanced to the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament semifinals thanks to an 80-50 win over the Cavaliers of Concordia on Tuesday.

Corban began the onslaught early as they jumped all-over the Cavaliers of Concordia University.

Wilson scored the opening basket (19:32 remaining on the first half clock) after she blocked a three-point attempt from the Cavaliers’ Maryam Razavi.

The shot, which came up short, was rebounded by senior Kendall Dionne who, in turn, made a long pass down the court to the darting Wilson on the opposite end of the court for an easy lay-in.

Shortly after, senior Brianne Carras went to work in the paint for the Warriors as she recorded three rebounds and two field goals in between the 19:05 and 15:31 marks that held Corban build an 8-2 lead.

The Warriors then began to push their lead as they went on a 12-0 run from 14:57 to 11:54 that concluded with Corban being on top 20-4 when Wilson assisted freshman Hillary Sell, who found the bottom of the net for two of her seven first-half points.

Concordia’s Angie Woolhiser sought to keep her visiting squad in the game, as she cut Corban’s lead to the closest it would be for the remainder of the game (11) when she made the first of two free throw attempts that established the Warriors’ advantage at 20-9 with 10:58 left before the teams headed into the locker room.

Next, Steigleman made her presence known as she recorded six of Corban’s next eight points between 10:02 and 8:35 left in the opening half, as the hosts went on an 8-0 run that left the scoreboard reading 28-9 in the Warriors’ favor.

Dionne followed by hitting her second long range basket of the half after Sell found her open in the corner that helped the Salem-based college move their lead to 31-13 with 7:15 remaining before the break.

The Cavaliers were down but not out as they crept back in with an 8-0 run of their own, which included two buckets and an assist by Woolhiser that left the Warriors with just a 38-21 lead as 3:06 dangled on the first half clock.

Sophomore Rachel Steigleman decided not to stand for this as she broke Concordia’s run by drawing a foul at the 2:42 mark and swished both free-throws to make Corban’s 19-point lead show as 40-21 on the scoreboard.

The visitors’ Maryann Razavi nailed a three-pointer, with 1:01 left in the opening half, from the left-center section of the three-point arc that limited the Warrior lead to 44-28 as the buzzer sounded.

Concordia came out of the locker room strong as they scored 6 of the first 8 points in the second half behind Breeanne Barker’s two lay-ups and two rebounds, yet remained down 12-points (46-34) with 17:21 left in the game.

Not taking kindly to the Cavaliers' attempt to pull back into Corban’s first home playoff game of the season, the Warriors began a 10-0 run behind an elder Steigleman lay-up at the 9:34 mark and concluded at 71-43 with 4:52 remaining when Dionne converted back-to-back free throw shots.

The home team progressed to maximize their lead of the night to 34 (80-46) when Laura Santie stole the ball from Barker and made her lone field goal of the night on a lay-in.

The Cavaliers’ Ann Snodderly was able to knock down the final two baskets of the night, but it was only enough to limit the Warriors’ final total to 30 as the Cascade Collegiate Conference co-champion Warriors won, 80-50.

Steigleman recorded a game-high 16 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field, while Wilson closely trailed with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field.

Senior Jessi Norton had a game-high 7 assists and 6 steals.

Concordia was led by Schaefer and Snodderly’s 10-points each, while the latter also matched Corban's Carras and teammate Ravazi with a game-high 8 rebounds.

Barker had 9 points and a game-high 7 assists for the visitors as well.

Corban shot 32-for-65 (49.2%) from the field, including 19-for-29 (65.5%) in the opening half.

Meanwhile, Concordia went 22-for-64 (34.4%) from the field, including a lone 1-for-7 (14.3%) from beyond the three-point arc and 5-for-12 (41.7%) at the charity stripe.

With its ninth straight victory, Corban pushes it overall record to 25-6 and equals the school record for most wins in a season.

On the other hand, Concordia concludes its season with an overall record of 9-22.

The Warriors will return to the hardwood on Friday, when they host the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament’s No. 3-seeded Coyotes of Albertson College of Idaho at 7:30 PM inside the C. E. Jeffers Sports Center.

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