PORTLAND – It didn't take long for the Warner Pacific University Women's Basketball team (3-2, 2-0) to jump out to an early lead against Corban University (1-7, 0-2), as they downed the Warriors 71-55 Friday night to keep their perfect conference record alive.
 
After trading buckets for the first few minutes of the game, the Knights extended their lead to 7 points at the end of the first quarter, with both teams dealing with underwhelming offense at under 30% field goal percentage for the game.
 
While the Warriors would go on to shoot at a higher percentage from the floor than WPU for the entire game, Warner Pacific impressed defensively for their best performance of the season tonight. With the full court press resulting in 21 Warriors turnovers, the Knights scored 22 points off Warrior' errors, doubling Corban's points earned off turnovers (11).
 
The first half and the beginning of the third quarter proved to be all Warner Pacific, as the Knights took a 14-point lead into the locker room, then extended the lead as high as 20 points before the Warriors started climbing back into this contest.
 
Following an and-1 play by Corban forward Holly Golenor, the Knights had seen their lead evaporate to a mere 4-points, deciding that was too close for comfort. Warner Pacific would go on to score 9 straight points, and never look back to advance to 2-0 in conference play.
 
Senior guard Lynden Harry recorded her best statistical game of the year for the Knights, dropping 22 points to lead all scorers, and bringing down 7 rebounds along the way. She added 3 assists and 3 steals during the 40 minute stretch, and scored 8 of her 22 points in the 4^th quarter to easily earn Player of the Game accolades for the Knights.
 
Corban was led by Golenor in the post, as she scored 17 points and hauled in 10 rebounds for a road trip double-double in Portland before fouling out in the 4^th quarter. Guard Gemma Lavergne matched Golenor with 17 points of her own, but was held responsible for 8 of the 21 Warrior turnovers.
 
The Knights return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Bushnell University Beacons at C.C. Perry Gym, looking to keep that perfect conference record alive at 3pm PST.