Zaria Jones goes for the steal.
Geoducks Lose to MSU-Northern in Opener
KIRKLAND - The Evergreen State College ran into a NAIA Division I powerhouse in Montana State-Northern on Friday night and dropped a 71-35 women's basketball decision at the Adidas Northwest Classic hosted by Northwest University.
The Skylights (5-0 overall) have been a recent fixture at the NAIA Division I national tournament and came into tonight's contest having played four games. That experience certainly paid off against the Geoducks (0-1), who were playing their first official contest of the season after several scrimmages and exhibitions.
Montana State-Northern, which was led in scoring by Natalee Faupel with 22 points, shot 46 percent for the game and also enjoyed a 34-24 rebounding edge.
The team from Havre, Mont., got out to a 13-3 lead as the Geoducks missed seven of their first eight shots while also turning the ball over four times in the game's first 6 1/2 minutes.
Zaria Jones hit a three-point shot and a jumper on consecutive possessions to get Evergreen to within five points at 13-8, but that was as close as it got. Minutes later, Montana State-Northern ran off 11 unanswered points to take a 28-11 lead in the second quarter, and another run of 11 consecutive points to open the third period stretched its advantage to 48-17. The Skylights' largest lead was 38 points and came in the closing minute.
Jones scored 10 points to lead the Geoducks, who also got eight points from
Imani Dunn.
Chloee Hunt and
Gabi Fenumiai tied for team-high rebounding honors with four. Evergreen shot just 32 percent from the field and committed 25 turnovers.
The Geoducks return to action at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow when they play Great Falls at the Adidas Northwest Classic at NU Pavilion.