Box Score OLYMPIA, Wash. –
Paris Sanders set a Multnomah University record with 18 rebounds, but a sizzling start in the first quarter enabled the Evergreen State College Geoducks to take control early on the way to a 72-40 win over the visiting Lions in Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball Friday evening here at the Costantino Recreation Center.
A Cherish Moss free throw and Deidra Miller layup gave Evergreen a 3-0 lead before Sanders put Multnomah on the board with a jumper – and then the Geoducks took off. A three-pointer by Alexcis Higginbotham, layups by Jahpera McEachin and Moss, and three Moss free throws stretched the ESC lead to 13-2 with 7:28 left in the period, and the Lions got no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Evergreen's sizzling shooting in the quarter (.588, 10-of-17 from the field) contributed to their 28-12 lead at the end of the opening 10 minutes.
Although the Geoducks shot nowhere near that well in any of the final three periods, they continued to extend the gap as the Lions could never get their offense untracked, shooting only .246 (16-65) for the game and .143 (3-21) from beyond the arc. Higginbotham's two free throws at 4:53 in the second quarter gave ESC its first 20-point lead at 39-18, and each team scored only two points the rest of the half as the Geoducks took a 41-20 advantage into the break.
A basket by McEachin gave Evergreen its largest lead of the game to that point at the end of the third quarter, 58-30. Two more Higginbotham charity tosses made it 72-35 with 1:12 left in the game, the Geoducks' biggest margin of the game at 37 points, before the Lions closed the scoring with a three by
Tiara Chinn and two
Erin Estabrook free throws.
--- By the Numbers: Chinn led the Lions with 12 points, hitting a trio of threes, and Sanders finished with her first career double-double of 10 points, a new career high, and 18 rebounds. Her total on the glass topped the previous MU mark of 14 rebounds in a game, accomplished numerous times by several players since the program began in 2014.
Bethany George handed out four ssists, and Sanders made two steals.
Higginbotham scored 11 points and McEachin and Miller had 10 apiece for Evergreen. The Geoducks finished with a .387 shooting percentage (24-62) and were 21-of-29 from the free throw line to only 5-of-10 for Multnomah. Led by McEachin's seven rebounds, Evergreen held a 49-43 edge on the boards. Cayla Jones passed out three assists, and Miller had three blocked shots.
Multnomah is now 1-28 overall and 1-18 in the conference, while Evergreen State improved to 10-13 on the season and 8-11 in the league. The Geoducks are now alone in seventh place in the conference, one game ahead of both Northwest University and Warner Pacific College, in a bid to make the eight-team CCC Tournament.
--- Next: Multnomah closes its season Saturday with a CCC game at Northwest at 5:30 p.m. … Evergreen State hosts Warner Pacific in its final conference match Saturday, also at 5:30 p.m. … Both women's games will be followed by men's CCC games at 7:30 p.m.
