Geoducks Get in the Conference Win Column at NCU's Expense
OLYMPIA – Evergreen recorded its first Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating visiting Northwest Christian, 65-52, at CRC Gymnasium.
With the win the Geoducks are now 7-4 for the season and 1-3 in the CCC. Northwest Christian falls to 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
The Geoducks shot 46 percent from the field, including a 50 percent mark in the final half, in taking the victory.
Sadee Jones registered a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds, while
Brittany Gray added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Uriah Thomas scored 12 points,
LaNiecia Weatherspoon added 10 points and five assists and
Randi Boseman also notched five assists for the victors.
Hannah Frederick scored 13 points and Andrea Gloss added 12 for the Beacons, who also got eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Demarea Caples.
Northwest Christian scored the first three points of the game and led until Gray scored on a jumper a little more than four minutes into the contest. After a brief tie at 5-5 following a basket by Gloss, Evergreen scored eight unanswered points to build a lead it would not give up. Thomas, who hit her first six shots before finishing the game 6-for-7 from the field, hit three consecutive jumpers to spark the run.
"Today demonstrated what
Uriah Thomas is about. I told her tonight, that is what you do when you've done all the work," Evergreen head coach
Jennifer Schooler said. "The
Uriah Thomas we saw today is who we see (in practice) every day."
The Geoducks eventually took a 29-21 lead into the halftime break.
The Beacons came out of the locker room for the second half and immediately cut their deficit to five points on a three-point bomb by Allie Kelsey. After another Gloss basket, NCU was still within five points at 33-28 with 17 1/2 minutes to play.
Again, the Geoducks responded with a big run, this one being a game-decider, scoring the next 10 points to open up a 43-28 advantage with 12:37 to play. Gray scored four points and Irene Moore, a track & field athlete just added to the team to bolster the roster to eight players, ended the run with a pair of free throws, her first points for the Geoducks.
Evergreen maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game and took its largest lead at 17 points, 49-32, on a Thomas jumper at the 10:18 mark of the final period.
"Today was a team effort," Schooler said. "We made mistakes and it didn't bother us. Every single person contributed and did their role. Sadee (Jones) was an absolute monster and I think the team played around her."
Evergreen takes the next two weeks off for the holiday break before returning to host conference opponent Northwest University at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3.