LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon Mountaineers overcame a halftime deficit to come back and defeat the Evergreen Geoducks, 63-60, in a Cascade Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday night at Quinn Coliseum in La Grande, Ore.
Neither team was able to take much control in the first half as the contest saw 10 lead changes over the first 20 minutes of the game. Evergreen used an 11-2 run over the final 3:27 to take a four-point lead into halftime, up 36-32.
In the second half, a 6-0 run to open the half put Evergreen up by double-digits with 15:44 left to play. EOU finally got its first points of the half with 14:09 left on the clock on a jumper by Kassy Larson. The Mounties continued to chip away at the lead, pulling even with 3:19 left to go and Eastern would win the final minutes to earn the 63-60 win to clinch the regular season title.
Evergreen was led by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Brittany Gray (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS/Skagit Valley CC). Jessica Denmon (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor HS/Skagit Valley CC) and Sadee Jones (Belfair, Wash./North Mason HS) each added 10 points as the only Geoducks in double-digit scoring. The Geoducks went without a three on the night, missing on all 15 attempts.
Eastern Oregon was led by 21 points from Brittney Newcomb. Nicole Redd added 16 points as the only two Mountaineers in double-digit scoring. EOU shot 47.8% from the field, including 11-of-24 from behind the three-point arc.
Despite the loss, the Geoducks are headed to the postseason for the third straight year. Evergreen will be the fourth seed and will travel to fifth-seed Southern Oregon on Tuesday evening to open up the 2014 CCC Championship presented by U.S. Bank. Tip with the Raiders is set for 7 p.m. at McNeal Pavilion.