OLYMPIA, Wash. – A strong night shooting and a solid team effort boosted the Evergreen Geoducks to their third straight win as they earned a 84-75 upset win over the 17th-ranked Lewis & Clark Pioneers in a non-conference women’s basketball game on Saturday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.
Junior Sadee Jones (Belfair, Wash./North Mason HS) gave the Geoducks (3-2) the lead just 12 seconds into the game but the Pioneers (1-3) didn’t go away easily as the first half featured eight ties and four lead changes. A layup by Brittany Gray (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS/Skagit Valley CC) put the Geoducks up by three with a minute left to go in the first period but a L&C free throw cut the lead to two at half, 42-40.
In the second half, the teams continued to battle as Lewis & Clark put together a late push that put the Pioneers up by three with 4:14 left to play. Evergreen answered with a 6-0 run that put the Geoducks up by three with 2:27 left on the clock and the home squad never looked back, holding on for the 84-75 win.
Evergreen was led by 17 points off the bench from Kiemba Pearson (Seattle, Wash./Renton HS/Highline CC). Jones add4ed 15 points with seven rebounds while Jessica Denmon (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor HS/Skagit Valley CC) added 14 points with four assists. Gray finished with 13 points and eight rebounds while Sammi Clark (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS/Edmonds CC) chalked up 11 points, all in the second half.
Lewis & Clark was led by34 points from Tayler Wang and 20 from Katie Anderson. Ayisat Afolabi added 11 off the bench. The Pioneers shot 48.1% from the field, making 25-of-52 attempts on the night.
Evergreen hits the road for one more before Thanksgiving when they travel down to Oregon on Tuesday to take on Pacific. Tip with the Boxers is set for 6 p.m. in Forest Grove, Ore.