OLYMPIA, Wash. – Leading for all 40 minutes, the Evergreen Geoducks took care of business, defeating the Northwest Eagles, 66-62, in a Cascade Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.  With the win, the Geoducks finish tied for seventh in the final conference standings, earning their first trip to the playoffs since 2007-08.

The Geoducks (7-20, 5-13 CCC) went ahead just 38 seconds in as sophomore Danielle Swain (Rainier, Wash./Black Hills HS) hit a jumper and Evergreen would never look back.  Evergreen pushed the lead over Northwest (11-15, 7-11 CCC) to eight with 15:10 still left to play as the green and white kept the lead to go into the break ahead 34-26.

In the second half, the Geoducks pushed the lead into double-digits with 12:48 left to play following a jumper by Jessica Edge (Lake Stevens, Wash./Skagit Valley CC) that put Evergreen up, 49-39. The Eagles soared back into the game late, pulling within two points with 40 seconds left on the clock but Edge hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to ice the game and earn the Geoducks the 66-62 win.

Evergreen was led by 17 points from Edge, including three baskets from behind the arc.  Sophomore Sami Clark (Monroe, Wash./Edmonds CC) chipped in 16 while Swain finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double.  The Geoducks were monsters of the glass, outrebounding the Eagles, 52-25 on the night.

Northwest was led by 20 points from Domi Mendezona.  Carol Howard added 17 points while Emily Drivstuen chipped in 13 points in the loss.  The Eagles, who were playing without the Cascade Conference leading scorer and rebounder Jessalyn Jackson, shot 20-for-57 from the field for 35.1%, including seven-of-24 from behind the arc.

Both the Geoducks and Eagles will be in action on Tuesday when the CCC Tournament begins.  Evergreen will be the eighth-seed and will travel to top-seeded Corban while Northwest will be the sixth-seed, making the trip to La Grande, Ore. to take on third-seed Eastern Oregon.  Both games are set to begin at 7pm.

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