Everybody Does Their Part in Evergreen Victory
EUGENE, Ore. – LaNiecia Weatherspoon, Sadee Jones and Uriah Thomas combined for 42 points Friday night to lead The Evergreen State College to a 64-52 Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball victory over the host Northwest Christian Beacons at Morse Event Center.
With their third consecutive win the Geoducks improved to 11-6 overall and 5-5 in the conference. The Beacons are now 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the CCC.
"We executed the game plan. We brought the energy that we needed to get it done," Evergreen head coach Jennifer Schooler said. "Everybody did their part and when that happens there is no question that we are successful."
It was a good thing that everyone did their part because only six players suited up for the game. The seventh member of the team, Irene Moore, is also a track & field athlete who this weekend is competing in two indoor meets. All Moore did on Friday at the Idaho Collegiate was set a school record in the 400-meter dash in addition to two other top-six finishes.
But back to basketball.
Evergreen got off to a quick start, racing out to a 15-2 lead behind six points apiece from Randi Boseman and LaNiecia Weatherspoon, and it eventually built a 14-point advantage at 21-7 about 9 1/2 minutes into the half before the Beacons launched a comeback.
Allie Kelsey hit a pair of three-point baskets and scored eight of her 12 points in the opening half as NCU closed to within 27-25 with 55 seconds remaining.
The Geoducks ended the half with seven consecutive points, however, to go to the locker room with a 34-25 advantage. Karina Gee, who missed her first five shots, knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the nine-point lead. Gee's basket was Evergreen's lone make on seven first half attempts from beyond the three-point line.
Evergreen opened the second half scoring on a jumper by Thomas, but Northwest Christian again responded by cutting its deficit to six points on several occasions. Andrea Gloss hit a jumper in the key to pull the Beacons to within 47-41 with 13:20 to play, but that was as close as they got the rest of the way.
The Geoducks regained a double-digit lead about two minutes later and held that margin for all but a couple of minutes in the late going.
Weatherspoon led all players with 17 points and she added seven rebounds. Sadee Jones notched her 10th double-double this season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to getting four steals, while Thomas added 12 points for the winners.
The other three Evergreen players all contributed to the win as Boseman finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists, Natasha Trinidad had eight points and four steals, and Gee added a pair of three-pointers for six points.
Melyssa Weber had a big game for the Beacons with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Kelsey scored 12 and Andrea Gloss 10 in support. Sami Pitts finished with a game-high four assists for NCU.
The Geoducks shot 34 percent (21-for-61) from the field compared to 38 percent (20-for-53) for the Beacons. Evergreen won the game at the line and in the turnover category. The Geoducks shot 77 percent on 20 made free throws compared to 61 percent and just eight makes for the Beacons, and they turned the ball over just 12 times compared to 22 for the hosts.
Both teams return to conference action on Saturday, Evergreen facing third-place Corban in Salem and Northwest Christian hosting Northwest.