COMING UP: Evergreen tips off its 2018-19 women's basketball season in Oregon, facing the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers at 6 p.m. Friday in Portland and the Willamette University Bearcats at 4 p.m. Saturday in Salem. Both games count as part of the Bruin Classic, hosted by George Fox University, though they are played on the home courts of Evergreen's two opponents.

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: With a handful of scrimmages and an exhibition victory over Christian Faith behind them, the Geoducks take the court officially for the first time this weekend. Senior guard Alexcis Higginbotham and senior forward Deidra Miller lead the team into the season after strong performances during the 2017-18 season that saw Evergreen finish with a 10-15 overall record. Higginbotham averaged 12.2 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game last season while Miller contributed 8.9 points and 5.7 boards. Cayla Jones, the team's leading scorer a year ago with 13.6 points, becomes eligible for the Geoducks later in December. Among the key additions to this year's squad are Cayla's older sister Amber, who will play point guard, Merrily Jones, a junior post who put up a 21 and 11 double-double against Christian Faith, and Angela Sikora, a three-point shooting specialist.

ABOUT LEWIS & CLARK: The Pioneers were 14-12 last season but lose leading scorer Miyah Leith and leading rebounder Lauren Wood. The top returnees are guard Janessa White with 9.4 points and 3.9 assists per game and guard Alyx Crager with 9.8 points per game. The Geoducks last played the Pioneers during the 2016-17 season, Lewis & Clark winning that game by a 65-55 score in Olympia.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: The Bearcats, who were 17-10 overall last year, have started 0-2 this season with losses to a pair of Evergreen's Cascade Conference colleagues, Warner Pacific and Northwest Christian. Senior guard Britanny Kochenderfer averages 20.0 points and 11.0 rebounds to lead the Bearcats in both categories, sophomore guard Amanda Carpenter adds 11.0 points per game, and junior point guard Drew Farmer contributes 6.5 assists per game. 

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH: Gil Rigell is in his third season – his second full campaign – after guiding last year's team to the conference postseason tournament. For 10 seasons, Rigell was a highly successful women's basketball head coach at Pacific Lutheran, leading his teams to an overall 196-69 record and five outright or shared Northwest Conference championships from 1997-2007. His PLU teams participated in six national tournaments, twice advancing to NCAA Division III Elite Eight status.

WHAT'S NEXT: After a home scrimmage next Tuesday against Whatcom CC, the Geoducks start the Cascade Collegiate Conference season at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, when Warner Pacific University visits Costantino Recreation Center. The following evening, the Multnomah Lions will be at the CRC for another conference game, that also beginning at 5:30 p.m.

CCC PRESEASON POLL: The Evergreen women's basketball program came out in eighth place in the annual preseason poll of Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball head coaches. The Geoducks, who advanced to the conference postseason tournament a season ago by virtue of their 8-12 record and eighth-place finish in the standings, received 49 total points in the voting.