ROCKLIN, Calif. - The Jessup women's basketball program hosted Corban University in their home opener to start the week Monday night in what would be a close game through three quarters, but the visiting Warriors would outlast the home team for the 76-64 advantage as Jessup goes 1-1 on the season. 

"It's disappointing to drop the home opener tonight," Kurt Westendorp, head coach in his third season for Jessup reflected.  "I thought we started the second half very strong but struggled to pull away on the scoreboard.  Corban is a veteran, tough team that always had an answer tonight when we put a run together."

Corban would set the pace in the first quarter as the home Warriors continued to play catch up with small runs in order to keep a short distance between themselves and their opponent. Up by as much as 8 points with seconds left in the first quarter, Lily Hagerty would close the gap with a three-pointer to end out the opening quarter, Warriors trail Corban only by 5 (17-12). 

The second quarter would reflect much of the same as Corban continued to answer Jessup's baskets and midway through the period would lead by as much as 10 points. But a spark would ignite for Jessup on Horton Court as they went on a 9-3 run over the final 4 minutes of the period trailing by just 4 points with seconds left. 

But the last chance shot for Corban would come from behind the arc and secure the 37-30 lead at the break. 

With a new half ahead of them, the Warriors worked hard in the third quarter to claw their way back and would take their first lead of the game as freshman Elizabeth Roark sank a layup for the one-point advantage (43-42) with just under 4:30 left to play. 

That would be the only lead Jessup would have for the remainder of the night as Corban continued to answer each basket and more taking their lead to as much as seven in the closing minutes and holding a 6-point edge with the final 10-minute period to play. 

Corban hit a double-digit lead at the midway point of the final period of regulation and took home their second win of the season in the 76-64 victory.

"We realize there are always many areas to improve on this early in the year and tonight highlighted our need to clean up some key areas," Westendorp said.

The Warriors were led by Hagerty who tallied 16 points on the night, followed by sophomore Miranda Zaragoza who had 15pts and 8 rebounds. 

Jessup will gear up for the annual Bill Holtz Classic brought to you by Placer Valley Tourism November 2-3 in Warrior Arena with two strong opponents in Oregon Tech on Friday (5 pm) and Northwest Christian on Saturday (8 pm). 

Head coach concluded with this heading into the busy weekend, "This weekend will be another tough two games and we need to take steps forward in practice this week to position ourselves for wins."
  William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).