COMING UP: The Evergreen State College (9-12 overall, 7-10 CCC) travels to Kirkland on Tuesday to face the Northwest University Eagles (7-17, 4-11) in a crucial Cascade Collegiate Conference game. Tipoff inside NU Pavilion is slated for 5:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen basketball fans unable to attend tomorrow's game can follow the action via live stats (http://www.nueagles.com/sports/2013/9/19/WVB_0919131949.aspx) and streaming video (https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nueagles/). 

A WIN AND THEY'RE IN: Evergreen will secure a berth in the eight-team Cascade Conference postseason tournament with a win against Northwest on Tuesday night. That is true no matter how the Geoducks and Eagles finish their regular season schedules because Evergreen would own the tiebreaker - two regular season wins - over their Seattle-area rivals. Should the Geoducks lose to the Eagles, they would have to win at least one of their two remaining games, both at home, against Multnomah on Feb. 16 and Warner Pacific on Feb. 17. As it now stands, the Geoducks could finish anywhere between fifth and ninth in the conference standings, but a win tomorrow night allows Evergreen to finish no worse than eighth. 

PLAYOFF HISTORY: Evergreen women's basketball has advanced to conference postseason play eight times in the 17 previous seasons that the program has been tournament eligible. The Geoducks have never won in the postseason.

TIME FOR A WINNING STREAK: It has been a streaky season for the Geoducks, who are currently mired in a six-game losing skid. Prior to that were four straight wins, and going backward toward the start of the season were four losses in a row, five consecutive victories, and two losses to start the campaign. All of that has worked out to a 9-12 overall record. The Geoducks would like nothing more than to build a three-game winning streak to finish the regular season and carry that into the playoffs.

GEODUCKS BY THE NUMBERS: Junior forward Cayla Jones continues to lead the Geoducks with 14.8 points, 6-0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Jones saw a string of 10 straight games in double-figure scoring come to an end last weekend, however, when she struggled finding the basket in road losses to College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Frosh point guard Jahpera McEachin contributes 12.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, and junior guard Alexcis Higginbotham adds 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 45.3 percent from three-point range. Junior forward Deidra Miller, who played the role of super sub early in the season, has now started 12 of the team's 21 games and averages 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest. Evergreen shoots 78.1 percent from the free throw line, fourth best in NAIA Division II women's basketball, and averages 3.6 blocks per game, 20th in national rankings.

ABOUT NORTHWEST: The Eagles boast two of the league's best players in junior point guard Mariah Stacona and junior post Miranda Langenhorst. Stacona averages 14.0 points and an incredible 4.1 steals per game, while Langenhorst is a top rebounder with 9.7 per game in addition to scoring at an 11.1 clip. The Eagles are still in the hunt for a conference tournament berth and have five games in which to make up ground on either Evergreen or Warner Pacific.

THE FIRST TIME: Cayla Jones hit two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining and Jahpera McEachin blocked two shots in the final minute as Evergreen defeated Northwest, 74-71, on Jan. 9 inside Costantino Recreation Center. Jones recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Alexcis Higginbotham tallied 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Geoducks to the victory. Mariah Stacona led the Eagles with 30 points, seven assists and seven steals.

COLLEGE OF IDAHO 67, EVERGREEN 57: Shooting woes proved to be Evergreen's undoing last Friday night in Caldwell, Idaho, as College of Idaho beat the Geoducks, 67-57. Evergreen shot just 27 percent through the first three quarters and trailed by as much as 16 points before closing to within four points late in the game. The Coyotes then ran off five straight points to ice the win. Jahpera McEachin and Deidra Miller both scored 14 points for the Geoducks, and Miller added 10 rebounds.

EASTERN OREGON 96, EVERGREEN 58: Deidra Miller scored 19 points and Kaelin Williams-Kennedy added 11 off the bench last Saturday night but it wasn't enough to prevent No. 7-ranked Eastern Oregon from beating Evergreen, 96-58, at Quinn Coliseum. The Mountaineers remained unbeaten in the conference while winning their 17th straight game.