Elleby and Thomas Double Up in Evergreen Victory
Lacey Morris hit four clutch free throws in the final 23 seconds as The Evergreen State College defeated the visiting Corban Warriors, 59-56, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball game played Friday night in CRC Gymnasium.
The win ended an eight-game losing streak for the Geoducks (2-11 overall, 2-7 CCC), who picked up double-doubles from Victoria Elleby and Uriah Thomas.
Evergreen led for more than three quarters of the game, but Corban (7-9, 2-5) made a late push from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter to bring it down to a deciding shot. Jade Lowery had a pair of looks from three-point range inside the final 10 seconds but missed both, and Morris grabbed the final rebound to seal the victory.
There were a total of five ties and 11 lead changes in the game, and many of those happened in the first quarter as the teams exchanged points through the first six minutes. Evergreen took a 15-14 lead on Autumn Moorcroft's three-point play, and it closed the quarter with six more points to take a 21-14 advantage into the second period.
The Geoducks added on to their lead and went into the halftime break with a 34-25 edge.
Lowery, Corban's top scorer at 17.5 points per game, got her stroke going early in the third quarter, scoring a three-point play and hitting a three-pointer to get her team within two, 35-33. The Geoducks replied by scoring seven straight points, but Corban rallied to within three points, 46-43, going into the game's final 10 minutes.
The Warriors took their first lead of the game since early in the opening quarter when Annie Owen nailed a three-pointer to make it 48-46 with 6:23 to play. After that, neither team scored for nearly three minutes until Moorcroft hit a jumper, and after one more tie Morris nailed a huge three-pointer to put Evergreen on top, 53-50, with 2:08 to go.
With her team down by four points following a pair of Morris free throws, Corban's Lowery drilled a deep three off of an inbounds play with 21 seconds left, but Morris replied at the other end of the floor with a pair of charity tosses with 18.5 seconds on the clock.
That led to Corban's final two efforts at the tying basket, and eventually to Morris corralling the last rebound to wrap up the game.
Elleby tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds and Thomas added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Geoducks. Moorcroft added 11 points while Morris had nine points and six rebounds for the winners, who shot just 34 percent from the field. Evergreen won the rebounding battle, 46-40.
Lowery led her team with 15 points, though the Geoducks made it difficult on the senior guard who shot just 5-for-18 from the field. Sadie Pilgeram had 12 points and eight rebounds and Owen came off the bench to score nine points and grab a team-high 11 boards. The Warriors shot just 27 percent from the floor.
Evergreen is back in action at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Northwest Christian at CRC Gymnasium.