COMING UP: The Evergreen State College (0-2) starts its Cascade Collegiate Conference schedule this week with three road games. The Geoducks travel to Kirkland on Tuesday to play Northwest University (3-5) before heading south on I-5 to play Multnomah (2-5) in Portland on Friday and Warner Pacific (4-1) in Portland on Saturday. Tipoff for all three games is slated for 5:30 p.m. In the conference coaches' preseason poll, the Geoducks were picked to finish eighth, just behind Northwest University and ahead of Warner Pacific and Multnomah, in that order.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: Fans can follow all Evergreen women's basketball home games via either live stats or pay-per-view live video at www.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/#. John Hammargren is in his fourth year as play-by-play announcer for the Geoducks.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS ON THE ROAD: Geoducks basketball fans can follow their favorite team via live stats and live video stream at two of the three road locations this week.
Northwest: Live stats – http://www.nueagles.com/sports/2013/9/19/WVB_0919131949.aspx; Live video – http://backlighttv.com/northwest-university/.
Multnomah: Live stats – http://sidearmstats.com/multnomah/mbball/; Live Video – http://portal.stretchinternet.com/multnomah/.

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen has played only two counting games thus far and lost both – 77-75 in overtime at Western Oregon and 72-59 at home to St. Ambrose (Iowa). Though it is a small sample size, a trio of players are averaging double figures in scoring – 5-11 senior forward Victoria Elleby at 16.5 points per game, 6-0 senior post Uriah Thomas at 14.0, and 6-0 junior post Gabi Fenumiai at 12.0. Thomas leads the team in rebounding with 8.0 per game followed by 5-9 junior forward Autumn Moorcroft with 7.0 per game and Fenumiai at 6.0 per contest. Moorcroft is the assist leader with an average of 3.5 per contest. The Geoducks are out-rebounding their opponents by a significant amount, 45.0 to 34.0, and they are shooting 46 percent from the field compared to 39 percent for their two foes. Where Evergreen lags behind is in turnovers, and that by a significant margin. The Geoducks have turned the ball over a total of 37 times compared to just 17 for their opponents. As a result, scoring averages show opponents at 74.5 per game compared to 67.0 for the Geoducks.

ABOUT NORTHWEST: The Eagles are 3-5 through their pre-conference schedule. There is one common opponent between Evergreen and Northwest this season, the Geoducks losing to St. Ambrose by 13 and Northwest beating the Bees, 85-79. Northwest's leader is 5-6 senior guard Jordan Asher with 12.4 points and 4.7 assists per game. Asher averages almost 2.5 made three-pointers per game and is shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc. Mariah Stacona, a 5-5 freshman guard, chips in 12.1 points per game and 6-2 freshman post Miranda Langenhorst averages 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Eagles score 72.8 points and allow 73.1 per game and they have been out-rebounded by an average of slightly more than 2.5 per contest.

ABOUT MULTNOMAH: Miranda Schmillen, a 5-4 junior guard, has played four games and averaged 10.5 points for the Lions, who are 2-5 overall. Lexie Govert, a 5-8 senior forward, has played all seven games and averages 9.1 points per game. The Lions are shooting just 31 percent from the field so far this season and have given up 73.1 points per game while scoring just 54.3.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights, who play Multnomah on Tuesday and Northwest on Friday prior to facing the Geoducks, won four of their five pre-conference games. They are currently averaging 64.0 points while giving up 57.6 per game, and they are dominating the rebounding category with 39.2 per game compared to 33.0 for their opponents. They have also limited their foes to 36 percent field goal shooting. Lindsay Lowe, a 6-1 senior forward, is the team's leading scorer with 13.2 points per game, that to go along with an average of 5.8 rebounds. Daesha Jackson, a 5-5 senior guard is perfect in 13 tries at the free throw line and averages 11.2 points per game. The rebounding leader is 6-3 senior forward Brett Larson, who grabs 7.2 per contest while coming off of the bench.

BEES STING GEODUCKS: St. Ambrose University spoiled Evergreen's Thanksgiving with a 72-59 non-conference victory at CRC Gymnasium last Wednesday afternoon. The Bees never trailed, taking a 13-2 lead in the opening minutes and maintaining that advantage throughout the game. Gabi Fenumiai scored 14 of her game-high 18 for Evergreen in the opening two quarters, and Elleby added 11 for the hosts. Fenumiai and Autumn Moorcroft led the Geoducks with seven rebounds apiece. While the Geoducks shot a better field goal percentage than St. Ambrose, 46 percent compared to 41 percent, they committed 22 turnovers compared to just nine for the visitors. St. Ambrose scored 24 points off of turnovers compared to just five for Evergreen.