LA GRANDE, Ore. – After leading the Evergreen Geoducks to one of the top seasons in school history, outgoing women’s basketball head coach Monica Heuer will have one more plaque to decorate her administrative office as she has been named 2013-14 Cascade Conference Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
In addition to the recognition for Heuer, who is stepping away from the bench after 13 years leading the Geoducks, senior guard Sammi Clark (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS/Edmonds CC) has been named All-CCC after earning honorable mention honors as a junior.
Heuer was honored by her colleagues around the conference after guiding Evergreen to a fifth-place finish in the regular season standings after being picked ninth in the preseason poll. The Geoducks fell to eventual runner-up Southern Oregon in the first round of the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank but the impression left was large enough to earn the honor for the 13-year coach.
Clark earned first-team honors after leading the Geoducks in scoring with 15.0 ppg. She also added 115 assists to her now school-record total of 290. She finished her three-year career at Evergreen with 969 points to her name after playing her first collegiate season at Edmonds Community College.
Also honored for the Geoducks were senior Jessica Denmon (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor HS/Skagit Valley CC) and junior Brittany Gray (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS/Skagit Valley CC), who both earned Honorable Mention honors.
Eastern Oregon’s Brittney Newcomb was named CCC Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring at 22.8 ppg. Corban’s Tara Vanweerdhuizen was named CCC Defender of the Year for the second straight season while Oregon Tech’s Ashley Vandenbrink was named Freshman of the Year by the conference coaches.