OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Evergreen State College women's basketball team is ranked 10th in the 2026-27 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll released by the conference office. The Geoducks were 1-22 overall in 2025-26, including 1-19 in the CCC.

College of Idaho held the top spot in the Preseason Poll with 107 total points and five first place votes. The Yotes were 22-9 in 2025-26, including 15-5 in the CCC. C of I tied for third place in the CCC regular season standings.

Oregon Tech was second in the poll with 101 points and two first place votes. Corban University, which won the CCC Tournament championship and tied for the regular season title a year ago, was listed third with 100 points and three first place votes. Lewis-Clark State College was fourth with 94 points, and Eastern Oregon was fifth with 89 points and one first place vote. EOU tied Corban for last year's regular season championship.

Southern Oregon University followed in sixth place in the poll with 69 points, while Northwest University was seventh at 49 points, and Bushnell University was eighth with 47 points. Warner Pacific University held ninth place with 31 points. Evergreen was 10th at 21 points, and Walla Walla University was 11th with 18 points.

Top returning players for Evergreen are Amaya Afatasi (Sr., PG), McKenna Jacobs (Jr., C), and Jesselle Victo Castillo (Sr., PG). Afatasi averaged 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Geoducks last season while playing in 17 games with 14 starts. Jacobs played in 10 games and made five starts. She scored 3.4 points per game and grabbed 1.1 rebounds per contest. Victo Castillo contributed 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game last year. She saw action in 23 games with 17 starts.

Evergreen will open the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Northwest Crossover Classic in Spokane, Washington. The event will feature Cascade Collegiate Conference teams against Frontier Conference teams. Action will take place at St. George High School. On Saturday, the Geoducks will take on University of Montana Western at 4:00 p.m. PDT. On Sunday, Evergreen will battle Carroll College (Mont.) at 2 p.m.