COMING UP: The Evergreen State College (3-17 overall, 3-12 CCC) travels to Oregon to play a pair of Cascade Collegiate Conference opponents this weekend. The Geoducks face the Northwest Christian University Beacons (15-8, 10-4) in Eugene on Friday and the Corban University Warriors (13-10, 8-6) in Salem on Saturday, with tip off for both games slated for 5:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: All Evergreen home basketball games are available either via live stats or pay-per-view video stream at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/#. John Hammargren is in his fourth year as the play-by-play voice of Evergreen basketball.

GEODUCKS AT NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN: Live stats and video stream available at http://www.gobeacons.com/sports/2009/11/13/GEN_1113094524.aspx.

GEODUCKS AT CORBAN: Live stats and video stream available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/corban/.

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: In ninth place in the standings with a 3-12 record, the Geoducks face an uphill battle in their pursuit of their fifth consecutive conference postseason tournament berth. They trail eighth-place College of Idaho by two games and seventh-place Northwest by three games. In addition, both of those teams have the tiebreaker advantage over Evergreen. The Geoducks continue to show their strength in rebounding, averaging 5.3 more per game than their opponents, but they have been outscored by almost 12 points per conference contest. Several players rank either at the top or near the top in a number of CCC statistical categories, led by junior point guard Lacey Morris with a conference-leading 5.1 assists per game. Junior post Gabi Fenumiai is second in the conference in both scoring (17.9) and rebounding (8.0) average, and her .534 field goal percentage puts her fifth in that category. Senior post Uriah Thomas averages 12.1 points and she is third with 7.8 rebounds per game. Senior forward Victoria Elleby averages 10.2 points per conference game.

NATIONAL NUMBERS: Gabi Fenumiai currently ranks 12th in NAIA Division II basketball in field goal percentage and 24th in points per game.

ABOUT NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN: The Beacons, fourth place in the conference standings, have won two in a row after suffering two consecutive defeats, which followed a string of nine wins in 10 contests. They are the CCC's top-ranked team in free throw percentage (.749) and blocks per game (5.9), and are ranked in the top three in the following categories – total field goal percentage offense and defense and three-point percentage offense and defense. They average 71.0 points and allow 58.7 per conference game and also grab almost two more rebounds per game than their foes. The balanced offense is led by sophomore guard Niki Duncan with 13.8 points and 3.3 made three-pointers per game. Monique Thompson, another sophomore guard, contributes 10.2 points and 4.0 assists per game, while senior guard Sami Pitts is a serious three-point shooting threat. The backcourt talent is balanced nicely by a frontcourt that includes 6-4 junior post Hanna Mack, 6-1 junior post Andrea Gloss and 5-11 senior forward MeShel Rad. Mack leads the CCC with 2.1 blocks per game, followed by Gloss with 1.9. None of the frontcourt players average double-figure scoring numbers.

THE FIRST TIME: A 21-10 scoring advantage in the third quarter propelled the Northwest Christian to a 69-57 conference win the first time the teams played in Olympia on Jan. 9. Uriah Thomas led the Geoducks with 22 points and Victoria Elleby added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors, who host Northwest University on Friday, are one of the hottest teams in the conference with wins in six of their past seven games. Senior guard Jade Lowery is the team leader with 16.8 points, 3.4 assists and 2.3 made three-pointers per conference game. Junior forward Sadie Pilgeram leads the conference with 8.4 rebounds per game and she also contributes 12.6 points per game, nearly half of that on three-point shots. Senior guard Julia Young, the reigning CCC Player of the Week, averages just under 10 points per game and is one of the league's best free throw shooters. As a team the Warriors average 66.2 points while giving up 65.4, and they have a +3.5 in rebounding margin.

THE FIRST TIME: Lacey Morris hit four clutch free throws in the final 23 seconds as the Geoducks defeated the visiting Corban Warriors, 59-56, on Jan. 8 in CRC Gymnasium. Victoria Elleby tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds and Uriah Thomas added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Geoducks. That is Evergreen's only win this season against a team with a winning record.

EASTERN OREGON 63, EVERGREEN 50: Visiting Eastern Oregon outscored Evergreen by 17 points in the second quarter and carried that momentum to a 63-50 victory last Friday night in CRC Gymnasium. Uriah Thomas finished with a double-double for the Geoducks, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. 

COLLEGE OF IDAHO 75, EVERGREEN 66: College of Idaho made the most of Evergreen turnovers and a 25-12 third quarter scoring advantage last Saturday night to earn a 75-66 win in CRC Gymnasium. Gabi Fenumiai scored a game-high 23 points for the Geoducks and added 15 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Victoria Elleby scored 20 points off of the bench and Uriah Thomas grabbed 11 rebounds for Evergreen.