Big Second Quarter Carries Owls Past Evergreen
Oregon Tech outscored The Evergreen State College by 18 points in the second quarter and cruised from there on the way to an 81-56 Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball win on Sunday afternoon in CRC Gymnasium.
The No. 23-ranked Owls (10-3 overall, 4-0 CCC) shot 64 percent in the opening half in building a 48-24 lead and led by as many as 30 points in the fourth period before settling for the 25-point victory.
Megan Whitstone scored 22 points and tied three teams for team-high rebounding honors with four in leading the Owls to the victory. She was joined in double-figure scoring by Nohea Waiwaiole, who came off the bench to shoot 7-for-9 from the field on the way to 16 points.
Gabi Fenumiai led the Geoducks with 18 points, followed by Uriah Thomas with 14 and Victoria Elleby with 10.
Evergreen got off to a solid start, turning an early 4-0 deficit into an 11-6 lead on Elleby's layup with 3:51 left in the first quarter. Irene Moore started the run with a three-point basket.
The teams traded the lead twice more before Whetstone's three-point bucket put Oregon Tech ahead to stay, 15-13, with 1:38 left on the clock. After leading 19-14 after the first period, the Owls went on a 7-2 run to open the second to take their first double-digit lead. After that they played add on, never leading by less than 20 points throughout the final 20 minutes.
The Owls shot 56 percent (28-for-50) from the field, including 10-for-15 from beyond the three-point arc. Whetstone, a center, hit all three of her long-range efforts.
The Geoducks shot the ball well, finishing at 47 percent (23-for-49), including 4-for-9 from three-point land. Evergreen also enjoyed a 28-27 rebound edge, led by Fenumiai with seven. Lacey Morris has her usual solid day running the point with seven assists.
Evergreen takes the Christmas break off before returning to conference action with games at College of Idaho on Dec. 30 and Eastern Oregon on Dec. 31.