BOX SCORE

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Led by sophomore Tara Vanweerdhuizen with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, Corban's women's basketball team came off a nine-day lay off and fell to the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College, 65-56, Monday inside CRC Gymnasium.

With today's result, Corban falls to 3-10 overall and 0-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Evergreen improves to 2-3 overall and remains unbeaten in CCC games at 2-0.

Along with Vanweerdhuizen, freshman Julia Young came off the Warriors' bench to add 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field that included a 3-for-5 performance from beyond the three-point line. Senior Emily Tsugawa would chip in with 10 points and a game-high eight assists, while senior Tess Bennett grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go along with team-high performances of three blocked shots and three steals by Vanweerdhuizen.

Corban would open the game by scoring the first eight points, as freshman Jade Lowery ended the run with a fast-break lay-in at the 17:09 mark to hand the Warriors an 8-0 lead. The visiting Warriors would hold an eight-point lead three more times with the final one coming with 11:14 on the clock thanks to a Vanweerdhuizen jumper in the paint that gave Corban an 18-10 lead. Over the next three-plus minutes, Evergreen would use a 9-0 run to earn a one-point lead (19-18) on a Maddie Graves' jumper in the paint with 7:30 left. Corban's final lead of the night would come at the 5:56 mark when Tsugawa hit back-to-back free throws giving the Warriors a slim 22-21 lead before Evergreen closed out the half on a 12-5 run en route to earning a six-point lead (33-27) at halftime.

Evergreen would quickly push its lead to double digits (37-27) in the opening two-plus minutes thanks to a 4-0 run before Corban began its comeback thanks to a 20-10 run over a span of ten minutes tying the score at 47-all on a free throw by Vanweerdhuizen with 8:21 on the clock. A quick 6-2 run by the Geoducks would give Evergreen a four-point lead (53-49) on a free throw by Graves, as Corban would get within two points (55-53) thanks to a 4-2 run that concluded on a lay-in by Lowery with just under five minutes remaining. Unfortunately that would be as close as Corban would get, as Evergreen scored seven unanswered points en route to earning a 62-53 lead on a pair of free throws by Jessica Denmon with 38 seconds left in the game. Denmon would score three more points at the free throw line to go along with a three-point by freshman Megan Benedict for the final tally of 65-56 in favor of the home team.

Sammi Clark would lead Evergreen with 15 points and a team-high six assists, while three Geoducks – Sadee Jones, Graves, and Brittnee Williams – scored nine points each. On the boards, Denmon grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with a game-high five steals by Clark.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 21-for-54 (38.9%) from the field that included a 4-for-12 (33.3%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 10-for-12 (83.3%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Evergreen was a combined 24-for-57 (42.1%) from the field, 3-of-10 (30.0%) from long distance, and 14-of-22 (63.6%) at the charity stripe.

Corban will return to action tomorrow – Tuesday, December 18th – in Cascade Collegiate Conference action against the Eagles of Northwest beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Kirkland, Washington. Meanwhile, Evergreen returns to the hardwood on Tuesday also hosting the Beacons of Northwest Christian at 5:30 p.m. in Olympia.