EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 24-ranked Northwest Christian University women’s basketball team excelled in their conference home-opener on Friday night, beating the visiting Evergreen State College Geoducks 75-55.
Northwest Christian (10-1, 3-1 CCC) showed minimal signs of rust, playing their first game in 13 days. NCU outplayed Evergreen on both ends of the court, shooting .412 from the field while holding the visitors to just .210. The Beacons dominated inside with a 60-44 rebound advantage, in addition to scoring 30 points in the paint compared to six from the Geoducks.
Head Coach Heath Alexander said, “I was really happy with our effort on the boards and defensive end tonight. Evergreen drives the ball really hard and our kids did a nice job adjusting with our zone to keep them out of the lane.”
NCU went on an early six-point run in the first three minutes of action, jumping out to a quick lead. The Beacons got their early lead up to 12 before TESC rattled-off eight in-a-row of their own to cut the deficit to four. NCU scored five in the final 0:45 of the first to end the period with a nine-point advantage.
Evergreen would hold steady for the first few minutes of the second, keeping the game within reach thanks to stingy defense and hot-shooting from Kaelin Williams-Kennedy. The Beacons would find their rhythm midway through the period, however, going on a ten-point run to break the game open and go into the half up by 15.
The Beacons scored the first eight points of the third period, putting the game out-of-reach for the visitors. The teams traded points for the remainder of the game, with NCU closing out with their tenth win of the season.
Freshman center Anamaria Virjoghe led the way for the Beacons, scoring a team-high fifteen points to go along with nine rebounds and four blocks. Fellow freshman Morgan McKinney chipped in 14 points with two steals, while Jenna Christenson scored thirteen off the bench, including three-of-four from long-range. Conner Borigo contributed eight points and seven boards in her 17 minutes of action, and Katerina Brejchova had nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two points in the victory.
Three players finished in double-figures for Evergreen (5-4, 3-2), with Jahper McEachin leading all players with 19, 14 of which were scored from the free-throw line. Williams-Kennedy scored 14 off the bench, and Alexci Higginbotham contributed 11. Deidra Miller had a team-high nine rebounds for the Geoducks, while Cayla Jones had four of her teams six blocks.
The Beacons return to the court tomorrow evening when they host the Northwest University Eagles. The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Morse Event Center.