The Beacons grabbed just their third CCC road win of the season on Saturday night and it proved to be their most important, knocking off Corban University, 63-53. The win propelled NCU to sixth-place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and the chance to do it all over again on Tuesday night as they travel back to Salem for the first round of the CCC Playoffs.
 
The Beacons (12-14, 8-10 CCC) shot 35% in the game but were able to rely heavily on their defense which forced 23 Corban turnovers, collected 11 steals, and saw the home team shoot 1-for-16 from three-point range. The Warriors (18-12, 11-7) shot 30% for the game.
 
First-Year Head Coach Heath Alexander, who led the team to eight conference wins for the first time since 2007, said, "We came ready to play and focused with our game plan tonight. Corban is a very good team and we executed very well against them. I expect a battle when we come back on Tuesday."
 
Melyssa Weber gave a career-best performance, leading NCU to victory with a double-double as she scored all-time bests with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Corban was led by Danielle Vanderstoel, who also had a double-double with 12 points and ten boards.
 
What turned into a double-digit victory was anything but one sided early on. Corban drew first blood with a Nicole Luce jumper and the teams began trading blows. The combatants traded leads three times before NCU emerged with a five-point advantage, 14-9 with 11:15 to play.
 
Corban rallied back to tie the game with 6:13 to play but back-to-back triples from Demarea Caples and Allie Kelsey put NCU back in control once again. The six-point lead, however, slowly shrank and a pair of free throws with 33 seconds remaining brought the home team to within 31-30 at the intermission.
 
The Warriors took the lead back just 11 seconds into the second half on a Payton Wilcox jumper and the team again yo-yo'd the advantage three more times. With the score knotted at 37-37 at the 15:44 mark, Weber hit a pair of free throws to put the Beacons ahead for good.
 
Holding a 43-42 lead with 9:35 left, NCU went on a 9-0 run capped by a fast-break layup by Weber and the visitors never looked back.
 
Weber ended the night shooting 8-for-14 as she played a season-high 33 minutes. Chandler Gabrio came off the bench to shoot 5-for-10, scoring 13 points and Caples finished with eleven for the winners. Hannah Frederick played 37 minutes and filled the stat sheet with  a gutsy six points, seven rebounds, five steals, and five rebounds.
 
"We had someone step up whenever it got tough," said Alexander. "Chandler gave us a great presence in the middle and Mel was fantastic today. It was a great team win from top-to-bottom and for my assistant coaches who are just as responsible for this as anyone else."
 
Besides Vanderstoel, the Warriors had just one other player hit double-figures as Jade Lowery came off the bench to score ten. Corban out-rebounded the Beacons 55-43 with Tara Vanweerduizen leading the way with 11 boards.
 
Picked by the conference coaches to finish dead last, NCU tied their best CCC finish ever, taking sixth. Tuesday's game at third-seeded Corban, scheduled for a 7pm tip-off, will be the first ever post-season match between the mid-Oregon rivals. NCU has won three straight in Salem.