MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Oregon University's women's basketball team came-from-behind to pick up its first win of the season via a 68-57 win over NAIA member Corban University Tuesday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Freshman Sami Osborne led the Wolves (1-4) with a season and career-high 16 points shooting 9-of-10 at the free throw line, while three other WOU players – sophomore Jordan Mottershaw, junior Shyla Akins, and senior Dana Goularte – also scored in double figures with 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively. On the boards, Osborne tallied her first career double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with Goularte's second straight double-double via 11 boards. In her first action of the season, junior Elise Miller equaled freshman Sydney Azorr for the game-high in assists with three each.

For Corban (3-5), Tara Van Weerdhuizen led the Warriors with 14 points with Julia Young and Jade Lowery chipping in with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Van Weerdhuizen also led Corban with nine rebounds and a game-high six blocked shots, while four Warriors – Van Weerdhuizen, Lowery, Young, and Sadie Pilgeram – handed out two assists each for the home team.

"We played with heart tonight," said Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "I am really proud of the mental toughness we showed when we got down."

In the opening four-plus minutes, Western Oregon jumped out to a five-point lead (6-1) on a jumper by Mottershaw with 15:39 on the clock. Over the next nine minutes, Corban used a 22-8 run en route to taking a nine-point lead (23-14) on a three-point by Lowery with 6:35 left. The host Warriors would continue to hold the lead over the next five minutes, as the Wolves cut their deficit to a single point (28-27) following a jumper in the paint by Akins with 1:37 remaining. Over the final 97 seconds, Corban extended its lead to two points (31-29) at halftime.

The second half would begin with Corban jumping out to a 40-31 lead on a fast break lay-in by Haley Holboke with 16:26 on the clock. Over the next three minutes, Western Oregon scored 10 unanswered points resulting in a one-point lead (41-40) on back-to-back free throws by Osborne with just over 13 minutes showing on the clock. Both teams would battle back-and-forth over the next seven-plus minutes with neither team earning more than a two-point lead. Western Oregon would earn take a 48-47 lead on a jumper by Mottershaw before scoring four straight points on lay-ins en route to earning a five-point cushion (52-47) with 3:52 left. Corban would get within three points (52-49) before the Wolves used a 10-3 run over a span of two minutes to increase their lead to double-digits (62-52) on a pair of free throws by Akins with 1:33 on the clock. Over the final 93 seconds, Western Oregon would score one more point than Corban resulting in the final margin of 11 points (68-57).

"At half, we talked about taking care of the ball and executing and they did just that," commented Howard-Carpenter. "Being aggressive to the rim tonight was key as we scored 21 points from the free throw line. Sami was huge for us off the bench, especially on the offensive glass. It was also nice to have Elise back on the floor. Shyla and Jordan played much better the second half as well. We need to have this type of intensity and balanced scoring every night."

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 22-for-62 (35.5%) from the field that included a 3-of-14 (21.4%) performance from beyond the three-point arc to go along with a 21-for-26 (80.8%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Corban was a combined 21-for-60 (35.0%) from the field, 8-of-14 (57.1%) from long distance, and 7-of-11 (63.6%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon will take a much-needed break over the Thanksgiving holiday before the Wolves open up a mini-Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) schedule beginning on Thursday, December 4, against Northwest Nazarene University beginning at 5:15 p.m. MT in Nampa, Idaho.