Second Half Defense Leads Warriors to 3rd Place Trophy, 69-51

Corban is now 2-1 on the young season, while William Jessup evens its record at 3-3.

Photo: Corban Athletics

ROSEVILLE, Calif. - Corban's women's basketball team stepped up its defensive pressure en route to securing a 68-51 victory over William Jessup in the consolation game of the William Jessup Basketball Tournament on Saturday.

In a battle of the Warriors, Corban and William Jessup ended the first half knotted at 33-all before the Warriors from Salem came out ready to play.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Corban used a 16-4 run that propelled them to a 12-point lead (49-37).

From that point on, the Warriors never looked back en route to securing their second victory of the young season.

Junior forward Jessica Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) led all players in points for the second night in a row with 16, as the third-year wing player shot 7-for-11 from the field.

Along with Steigleman, senior forward Brianne Carras (Olympia, Wash.) was the only other Corban player in double figures with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. A trio of senior guards -- Tosha Wilson (Madras, Ore.), Jessi Norton (Redmond, Ore.), and Kendall Dionne (Brownsville, Ore.) -- pitched in with 8 points each.

Wilson grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, while Steigleman, Carras, and junior center Katie Dennis (Damascus, Ore.) pulled down 7, 5, and 5 boards respectively.

All eleven players for Corban scored, as the reserves were led by freshman forward Hillary Sell (Aloha, Ore.) and sophomore guard Laura Santie (Seattle, Wash.) who each scored 4 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Dennis added 3 points, junior forward Mandy Peterson (Portland, Ore.) notched 2 points, freshman guard Beth McLam (Fairfield, Idaho) pitched in 2 points, and sophomore guard Rachel Steigleman (Eugene, Ore.) registered 1 point for the Warriors.

As a team, Corban shot 48% from the field, 40% from beyond the 3-point line, and 55% from the free throw line, but committed a season-high 23 turnovers with 11 in the first half and 12 in the second.

The Warriors' defense held the host William Jessup's offense to a mere 15 field goals, as the host Warriors from Rocklin, California, shot 31.0% from the field (15-for-48) and scored only 18 points in the second half.

The Warriors are back in action on Friday, November 17th, when they go head-to-head with NCAA Division I member Eastern Washington University beginningat 7:05 PM in Cheney, Washington.

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