Third Quarter the Difference as Beacons Beat Geoducks
A 21-10 scoring advantage in the third quarter propelled the visiting Northwest Christian Beacons to a 69-57 Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball win over The Evergreen State College on Saturday night in CRC Gymnasium.
The Beacons (10-6 overall, 6-2 CCC) broke away from a 35-35 halftime deadlock in handing the loss to the Geoducks (2-12, 2-7).
Niki Duncan hit five three-point baskets on the way to a team-high 21 points for the Beacons. Andrea Gloss added 13 points, while Hanna Mack had 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Monique Thompson added 10 points and contributed four assists for the Beacons.
Northwest Christian shot 53 percent overall from the field and hit 47 percent (9-for-19) from three-point range. The team had 17 assists on its 27 baskets.
Uriah Thomas led the Geoducks with 22 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, and she grabbed seven rebounds. Victoria Elleby added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Evergreen. Irene Moore contributed 12 points and three steals, and Lacey Morris chipped in six assists and four steals.
The Geoducks shot just 33 percent overall, but that percentage was worse in the second half at 27 percent. In addition, Evergreen shot just 20 percent from three-point range. On a more positive note, the team committed a season-low 11 turnovers.
During the decisive third quarter, Evergreen made just five of its 16 shots and also committed five of its 11 turnovers. At the same time, Northwest Christian made nine of its 15 attempts and turned the ball over just three times.
The Beacons led for nearly 32 minutes and took their largest leads at 17 points with about eight minutes remaining. Evergreen's largest lead was three points late in the second quarter.
Evergreen returns to action at 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 12, when it hosts the Northwest University Eagles in a conference contest.