Evergreen

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The women's basketball team from The Evergreen State College was defeated by Cascade Collegiate Conference foes Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech in road games on Friday, Jan. 3 and Saturday, Jan. 4, respectively. On Friday, SOU downed the Geoducks 82-40 in Ashland, Oregon. On Saturday, Oregon Tech outscored Evergreen 78-62 in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

In the game at Southern Oregon, Syndey VanNess (Sr., G/F) produced 13 points for the Geoducks and connected on three 3-point shots. Thuyvi Tran (Sr., G) contributed nine points and was 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. Abby Mundy (Sr., G) chipped in seven points and hauled down five rebounds. Jalyn Sackrider (Sr., F/C) led Evergreen with six rebounds and three blocked shots. The Geoducks blocked a total of six shots.

Morgan Baird of SOU led the Raiders with 13 points, while Bridgette McIntyre and Emma Schmerbach each tacked on 12 points. Clara Robbins topped the Raiders with nine rebounds, while Baird and Makayla Scurlock each grabbed seven boards. Schmerbach earned a game-high eight assists and blocked two shots.

Allison DeBerry (Sr., G) was TESC's leader at Oregon Tech, as she scored 19 points and supplied seven assists. DeBerry was 7 for 9 form the field and went 5 for 5 at the free throw line. VanNess followed on the scoring chart with 18 points to go along with six rebounds. She was 4 for 10 from 3-point range.

Sackrider was credited with a game-high 14 rebounds and topped all players with six blocked shots. She also registered two steals. For the season, Sackrider leads the Geoducks with 10.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots per game.

For Oregon Tech, Kaitlyn Wright accumulated 14 points and was 7 for 10 on field goals. Kendall Fealey scored 12 points. Tatum Schmerbach and Maddyson Tull each recorded 10 points. Brooke Anderson led the Lady Owls with eight rebounds and Alexis Elquist added seven boards. Schmerbach finished with eight assists.

Tran scored first against Southern Oregon on a 3-point basket just eight seconds into the game. The Raiders tallied the next seven points for a 7-3 edge with 8:01 left in the quarter. VanNess tacked on a 3-pointer for Evergreen to cut the margin to a single point, but SOU used a 9-0 surge to grab a 16-6 lead with 4:41 on the clock. The Raiders led 25-12 after one quarter and held a 40-16 advantage at halftime.

In the game at Oregon Tech, the Geoducks took a 4-0 lead on a pair of jump shots by Sackrider. Evergreen was in front 7-3 after VanNess sank a 3-point shot less than three minutes into the game. Even so, the Lady Owls scored the next 10 points on their way to building a 22-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Oregon Tech claimed an 18-10- scoring edge in the second quarter for a 40-19 lead at the break.

Evergreen outscored the Lady Owls 22-20 in the third quarter and 21-18 in the fourth quarter but couldn't offset OIT's first half margin. The Geoducks opened the third period with a 20-14 run that reduced the deficit to 54-39 following a 3-pointer by Mikail Montez (Sr., F/C) at the 2:31 mark.

The Geoducks trailed 60-41 at the start of the fourth quarter before a 3-pointer by Kadance Blankers (Jr., G) and two free throws by DeBerry pulled TESC within 60-46. Evergreen eventually moved as close as 70-58 with 2:01 to play following a 3-pointer by VanNess.

With the losses, Evergreen fell to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the CCC. Southern Oregon upped its record to 12-0 on the season, 6-0 in the CCC after defeating the Geoducks. OIT improved to 10-3, 5-1 in the CCC.

Evergreen will play Eastern Oregon University at the Costantino Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m. PDT. The Geoducks will remain at home on Saturday, Jan. 11 to take on the College of Idaho at 3 p.m.