KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Evergreen Geoducks’ bus didn’t move very fast as they battled snow on the 460 mile drive to Oregon Tech but the Geoducks pushed the pace once they arrived at Danny Miles Court as they upset the nationally-ranked Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls, 67-58, in a Cascade Conference women’s basketball game on Friday night in Klamath Falls, Ore.
It took over 24 hours for the Geoducks to make it to Klamath Falls and it took a little time for the green and white to warm up but once they did, 21st-ranked Oregon Tech had a hard time stopping them. After trailing early, the Geoducks used an 11-0 run to pull ahead by four points as the Hustlin’ Owls were forced to hustle the rest of the half. Evergreen continued to play strong on defense and took care of business on offense, taking a 34-26 lead into the break.
The second half continued to roll the way of the Geoducks as Evergreen opened the period on an 8-0 run to pull ahead by 16 points early. The lead hit 20 points with 11:40 left to play as LaNiecia Weatherspoon (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS/Yakima Valley CC) put up a pair of free throws that put Evergreen up 54-34.
Oregon Tech stormed back, using a 10-0 lead to cut the Geoduck lead in half at 54-44 before the Geoducks would get another basket. The Lady Owls pulled back within single digits as the clock continued to tick down. Ashley Vandenbrink hit a three-pointer for OIT with 1:46 left to go that cut the lead to five points at 58-53 but the Geoducks fired up the jets once again to finish strong and earn the 67-58 win. It is just the third win all time for the Geoducks in Klamath Falls and fifth win all-time over Oregon Tech.
Evergreen was led by 20 points and 15 rebounds from Brittany Gray (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS/Skagit Valley CC). Sadee Jones (Belfair, Wash./North Mason HS) added 14 points while Sammi Clark (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS/Edmonds CC) finished with 11 points in the win. The Geoducks held a 47-33 advantage on the glass to earn the conference win.
Oregon Tech was led by 15 points from Tess Armstrong. Kassi Conditt chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds to earn the double-double but they were the only two Lady Owls in double-digits as OIT shot just 37.3% on the night, making 22-of-59 attempts.
The Geoducks face another big test on Saturday night when they travel to Ashland to take on Southern Oregon. Tip with the Raiders is set for 5:30 p.m. at McNeal Pavilion.