COMING UP: With a Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball victory to its credit, The Evergreen State College returns from holiday break to host conference opponent Northwest University at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in CRC Gymnasium.
FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: Fans unable to attend Evergreen home games can still follow their favorite team via video feed and live stats. Access both at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/. John Hammargren is the play-by-play announcer on the video stream.
TEAM RECORDS: The Geoducks welcome 2015 with a 7-4 record and they are tied for seventh in the conference with a 1-3 record. Most recently, they put a tally in the CCC win column with a 65-52 win over visiting Northwest Christian on Dec. 20. The Northwest Eagles are 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference, good for a fifth-place tie. Most recently they dropped a conference game to the visiting Corban Warriors.
GEODUCKS BY THE NUMBERS: The Geoducks are ranked in the top 20 in five categories in NAIA Division II women's basketball. They are seventh in defensive rebounds per game (33.5), 10th in rebounding margin (+9.5), 14th in both field goal percentage (.445) and scoring defense (56.5) and 16th in offensive rebounds per game (15.7). Individually, senior post
Sadee Jones is eighth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.18) and 25th in total rebounds per game (9.36), while senior post
Brittany Gray is 19th in rebounds per game (9.7), 22nd in field goal percentage (.522) and 23rd in offensive rebounds per game (3.6).
ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: A trio of players average double-figure scoring for Evergreen, led by
Brittany Gray at 15.7 points per game.
LaNiecia Weatherspoon, a junior guard, scores at a 15.2 clip, while
Sadee Jones contributes 13.6 per contest. Gray ranks second on the conference's scoring list, Weatherspoon is third and Jones is fifth. Gray (9.7) and Jones (9.4) hold down the top two spots in conference rebounding. Senior point guard
Randi Boseman is sixth in the conference with 3.7 assists per game, and junior post
Uriah Thomas is one of the CCC's best free throw shooters at 90 percent. Thomas has improved her field goal percentage to an outstanding 53 percent mark. Evergreen currently ranks second in the conference 72 percent accuracy at the charity stripe, outrebounds its opponents by 9.7 per game, and for the season they have scored 70.6 points per game while allowing 56.5.
ABOUT THE EAGLES: Northwest scores 64.9 points while allowing 61.9 per game this season, and like Evergreen has been dominating opponents in rebounding by 9.3 per game. Included in that impressive rebounding number is an average of 16.2 offensive boards per game, which ranks second among conference teams. Chanara Greene, a 6-1 senior center, leads the team with 11.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Jordan Asher, a 5-6 junior guard, averages 10.5 points and shoots 39 percent from three-point range, while 6-0 freshman forward Hannah Carlson scores 10.5 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 88 percent at the foul line. Asher and 5-5 freshman guard Charmaine Bradford both average 3.8 assists per game for the Eagles.
LAST SEASON: Northwest had success against Evergreen in CRC Gymnasium last season, winning 55-43 in the non-conference season opener and 76-73 in conference play. Evergreen defeated the Eagles, 69-61, in a conference game played last year in Kirkland.
RECENT RESULTS: In their final two games prior to the holiday break, both played at home, the Geoducks split results with strikingly similar scores. On Dec. 19 the Corban Warriors triumphed 65-51, that despite 13 points and nine rebounds from Evergreen's
Sadee Jones. The following afternoon, the Geoducks took a 65-52 win over Northwest Christian as Jones tallied a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
