Salem, OR - The Thunderbird women's basketball team moved a step closer to the post-season with a 72-62 win over Corban College in Salem tonight.

 

Amy Russell and Te Awhina Aranui each registered double-doubles in the stat line to push Cascade to the important conference victory. 

After a back and forth first ten minutes in which the teams traded the lead four times, Russell scored a lay-in at the 10:23 mark which put the T-Birds ahead for the rest of the period. Pheiban Mulatu hit back to back buckets at the end of the half to stretch a slim lead out to 9 at the break.

 

The host Warriors didn't fold however, and rallied to take a 47-46 lead with 14:22 to play on a Jessica Steigleman three pointer. The T-Birds would respond with an 11-0 run capped off by a Raquel Morin trey to take the lead for good. Corban drew with six with under a minute to play, but Cascade hit 4-4 free throws to seal the game.

 

Robin Swain led Cascade (13-15, 6-12 CCC) with 19 points and 6 assists. Russell (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Aranui (15 points, 10 rebounds) were joined by Raquel Morin (15 points) in double figure scoring.  

 

All-CCC forward Jessica Steigleman scored a game high 21 and grabbed 10 rebounds for Corban (9-19, 5-13 CCC).

 

The win puts Cascade one game ahead of Corban for the 8th and final playoff spot in the CCC standings with 2 games remaining. "It was a great win for us as we were up against a quality Corban team on their floor," said coach Matt Murphy. "We hadn't been playing particularly well lately, and had been struggling with our shooting. We came up with the scores down the stretch when we needed them. We still have some work to do next weekend, but I feel good about where we are."