WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES: The Evergreen State College plays a pair of Cascade Collegiate Conference games this weekend, hosting the Multnomah University Lions on Friday and the Warner Pacific College Knights on Saturday. Tipoff for both games is slated for 5:30 p.m. in Costantino Recreation Center.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen fans unable to follow their Geoducks can do so via live stats and/or a pay-per-view live video stream at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/. John Hammargren is the voice of Geoducks basketball on the live video stream.

QUALITY OPPONENTS: While Evergreen enters the weekend with a 1-6 overall record, including a 0-1 mark in the conference, it should be noted that the Geoducks' opponents this season have a combined 43-16 record. NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific and NCAA Division III Puget Sound are both 7-0, while NAIA Division I foes Great Falls (9-2) and Montana State-Northern (8-2) are also off to fast starts. Additionally, Lewis & Clark, which won just four games a year ago, is 6-1 at this juncture. Those are some very good teams, so it's no wonder that the young Geoducks have had difficulty putting results in the win column.

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen hopes that its tough pre-conference schedule bodes well for the remainder of the conference season ahead. Senior post Gabi Fenumaia is the only Evergreen player to average in double figures, and she is at 10.1 points per game after averaging 17.5 a year ago. She is third on the team with 5.3 per game, trailing junior guard Kylie Gorton with an average of 5.6 and senior post Autumn Moorcroft with 5.4 per contest. Freshman guard Zaria Jones is second in scoring with 8.4 points per game and in assists with an average of 2.0. Junior guard Corina Tacardon leads the team with 2.3 assists and 2.4 steals per contest. Overall, the Geoducks are being outscored by average of 23.3 points per game, and they trail their opponents in rebounding by an average of 4.4 per contest. Those last two numbers are mainly down to the quality of the opposition and the relative youth of the 2016-17 Evergreen team.

ABOUT MULTNOMAH: The Lions are 2-5 overall this season but they got off to a great start in conference on Tuesday with an 84-68 road win against Warner Pacific. Senior guard Miranda Schmillen, who played junior college basketball at Peninsula College with Evergreen's Gabi Fenumiaia, poured in 32 points against Warner Pacific and is the team's scoring leader with 14.4 points per game. She is shooting 44 percent from the field and is among the league's top free throw shooters at 83 percent accuracy (24-for-29). Schmillen also leads her team with 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest. Lacie Kamper, a senior forward, contributes 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

LAST YEAR: The Geoducks swept the then conference-newcomer Lions last season, opening conference play with an 82-76 road victory and closing the campaign with a 90-61 win in Costantino Recreation Center.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights have struggled out of the blocks this year with a 2-6 overall record and a 0-1 mark in the conference. Interestingly, Evergreen will be Warner Pacific's third opponent in as many nights on Saturday as WPC will play a non-conference game at Pacific Lutheran on Thursday before traveling to Kirkland to meet Northwest University in a CCC clash on Friday night. Freshman guard Darbi Pink is the team's scoring leader with 11.1 points per game, while senior guard Kyeli Hendryx chips in 10.9 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per contest. Through their first eight games the Knights are being outscored by 13.4 points per game and they are 4.0 rebounds per game in the red.

RECENT RESULTS: Going back to the 2007-08 season, Warner Pacific has won 12 of the 18 meetings between the two teams, including 68-57 and 74-43 decisions last season. Evergreen swept the Knights during the 2014-15 campaign by 59-51 and 68-57 scores.

PUGET SOUND BEATS GEODUCKS: Unbeaten University of Puget Sound never trailed in beating Evergreen, 73-45, in a non-conference game played Wednesday night in Tacoma. Gabi Fenumiai and Zaria Jones both scored 10 points to lead the Geoducks.

PRESEASON POLL: In their 2016-17 preseason poll, Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball coaches have picked The Evergreen State College to repeat its ninth-place finish of a season ago. Warner Pacific received 48 points to place eighth in the poll, while Multnomah was 10th with 24 points. After finishing in the top spot a season ago, Southern Oregon has been selected to repeat as conference champions, claiming eight first place votes in coaches' poll. The Raiders finished with a 19-1 conference record and a CCC tournament championship, in addition to finishing as national runner-up, last year. Eastern Oregon earned 107 points and two first-place votes in the poll to come in second after a 16-4 conference record and a 21-10 overall mark last season. Oregon Tech claimed the third spot in the poll after tying for second place in the conference standings with EOU last season at 16-4. The Owls are coming off an appearance in the CCC tournament championship game, and making it to the Sweet 16 in the national tournament.