Southern Oregon used a familiar formula to defeat Corban, 73-64, and lock up the Cascade Conference’s No. 3 seed Friday night at the C.E. Jeffers Center.
Veteran all-stars Kami Walk and Brianna Phiakhamngon put the math in SOU’s favor by combining for 45 points in a continuation of their late-season surges. The Raiders went to 21-6 overall and 17-4 in the CCC, remaining two games ahead of fourth-place Oregon Tech entering the final day of the regular season.
Walk, a junior forward, put up 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots – her second straight 24-10 game and sixth double-double in nine outings. Phiakhamngon, a senior point guard, scored 21, the same number she averaged in two games last weekend. She tacked on a game-high four assists.
Together, they shot 13-of-26 from the field and 17-of-19 at the free-throw line. Emma Schmerbach pitched in with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks.
The Raiders took a 38-31 lead into halftime after Walk and Phiakhamngon teamed up for 16 points in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors (12-15, 9-12) by themselves.
They retained the lead throughout the second half. After Corban’s Maddie Godwin cut it to 61-59 with five minutes remaining, Walk rebounded her own miss and went up again for a three-point play. A minute leader, she drained two free throws to push SOU’s edge to seven.
The Raiders completed a regular-season season sweep of Corban, but it wasn’t as easy as their 71-34 win on Jan. 7. Holly Golenor scored 19 to keep the Warriors in it this time around, though SOU kept the upper hand by holding Golenor, their leading scorer on the season, to five points on 1-of-10 shooting.
The Warriors hit at 30 percent from the field as a team, becoming the seventh SOU opponent to finish at 33 or worse.
The Raiders finish the regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday against fifth-place Bushnell. They’d already clinched homecourt advantage for the quarterfinal round of the CCC Tournament – it’ll tip off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday inside Lithia Motors Pavilion – and will host either Corban or College of Idaho.
Content used with permission, compliments of SOU Sports
Photo by Corban Sports Info.
