PORTLAND, Ore. – Junior center Nikki Corbett scored 13 points in her season debut and sophomore guard Lexie Bland also added 13 points but the visiting Western Washington University women’s basketball team fell 70-61 to Concordia on Thursday night at LCEF Court in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
The Vikings (6-7, 2-3 GNAC) led briefly in the opening minutes of the game before the Cavaliers (9-4, 3-2 GNAC) grabbed the lead and maintained an advantage for the rest of the contest. WWU kept the deficit within single digits for most of the game and cut the Concordia lead to 5 points twice in the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers held off the Vikings.
The first 3 minutes of the opening quarter featured five lead changes and one tie before a 7-0 run by the Cavaliers gave Concordia a 13-7 advantage. The Vikings came within 4 points of the Cavaliers three times later in the quarter but Concordia maintained its lead.
Trailing 19-13 after the first quarter, WWU went on a 5-0 run to come within 23-20 at the 6:08 mark on a 3-pointer fromBland (Ellensburg, WA) but the Cavaliers responded less than a minute later with a 3-pointer by forward Bailey Cartwright to double the lead. A layup from sophomore guardDani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Hawai’i Pacific) later brought WWU within 26-24 with 4:34 to go, but the Cavaliers answered again on the next possession with a 3-pointer from guard Kizzah Maltezo en route to 36-31 halftime lead.
Corbett (Camas/WA), who missed the first 12 games of the year with an injury, came off the bench to score 9 points in 8 minutes of action during the first and second quarters. Redshirt freshman guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) had 5 points in the first quarter to help lead the offense.
Concordia built its lead to 10 points twice during the third quarter but the Vikings continued to fight back, reducing a 48-38 deficit to 49-44 with 1:19 left in the period on a layup from senior forwardHannah Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/MSU Denver) to complete a 6-1 spurt.
The Cavaliers led 55-45 early in the fourth quarter before WWU scored on three straight possessions with a layup fromIwami, a 3-pointer from junior guard Amanda Lance (Buckley, WA/White River) and a layup byBland to come within 57-52 at the 8:27 mark. The Vikings were again within 5 points at 59-54 with 6:53 to go after a layup by freshman forwardKelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood), but Concordia responded with a 5-0 run and did not let WWU within fewer than 8 points the rest of the way.
Corbett scored her 13 points in 13 minutes of action on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, and also blocked 2 shots.Bland was 5-of-9 from the floor, adding a career-best 2 blocks as well.
Castaneda andRogers each scored 7 points with Iwami and freshman guard Emma Duff(Black Hills, WA/Tumwater) adding 6 points apiece. Iwami added a team-high 4 assists.
The Vikings went 25-for-61 (41.0%) from the field but were just 4-of-18 (22.2%) from 3-point range, led byBland who made 3-of-5 3-pointers. WWU had an uncharacteristic evening from long range, having entered Thursday ranked 19th nationally in 3-point percentage at 37.5%. The Vikings were 7-of-11 (63.6%) at the free throw line.
Concordia was 23-of-66 (34.8%) from the field and 6-of-20 (30.0%) from 3-point range. The Cavaliers made 18-of-28 (64.3%) free throw attempts.
The Cavaliers held a 52-36 rebounding advantage in the game and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds compared with 7 for WWU.
Cartwright recorded game-high totals of 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers. She was joined in double figures scoring by guard Danielle Hartzog with 16 points and Maltezo with 15 points.
WWU continues its Oregon trip Saturday, facing Western Oregon at 5:15 pm. The Vikings have 999 all-time victories in program history and will look to become the 15th team in women’s college basketball history, according to available records, to reach the 1,000 wins milestone. Fans can follow Saturday’s game viaWWUVikings.com/Live.
Game Notes: WWU is 999-349 (.741) all-time in its 47-year history, a win shy of reaching 1,000 all-time wins to become the 15th team in women’s college basketball history to reach the mark (according to available NCAA and NAIA records)…Nikki Corbettmade her season debut after missing the first 12 games of the season due to injury…Bobbi Westendorfplayed 3 minutes on Thursday after missing the last 4 games due to injury…Lexie Blandhad a career-best 2 blocks and equaled her career high with 5 made field goals…Concordia won its first game in the series against WWU (Vikings lead all-time series, 11-1).

 

Courtesy of WWU Athletics.