Box Score OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Northwest Christian University women's basketball team opened up the second half of the CCC schedule on Sunday night by picking up their first conference win of the year, a 46-39 victory over The Evergreen State College on the road. Both teams shot under 30% and combined for 42 turnovers in a tough defensive struggle.

Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton said, "We played with some defensive intensity tonight and I'm proud of how we stuck to the game plan. We threw some different looks at them on defense and it worked well."

A very defensive first half saw NCU crawl out to a 14-1 lead as they held the Geoducks without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes to open the game. Reserve player Kristy-Lee Nahley then rattled off three straight field goals for ESC, including a three-pointer as Evergreen pulled to within 19-14 at halftime. Nahley and NCU's Lindsey Shearer each had seven points in the half for their respective teams.

The Geoducks continued their rally early in the second half, going on a 7-2 run as they tied the game at 21-21 with 13:49 to play. The Beacons responded strong, using their own 13-0 run to climb ahead 34-21 with ten minutes remaining. ESC got back to within five points on four occasions, but couldn't finish the deal.

Northwest Christian (9-13, 1-9 CCC) was led by Shearer, posting another complete effort with 14 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Katie Collins came off the bench to score 13, hitting 9-for-12 from the free-throw line. Senior Martha Taylor (pictured) led NCU with a career-high 13 rebounds, scoring four points to go with three steals.

Evergreen (4-15, 2-8) was led by Danielle Swain's double-double, scoring ten points and a school-record tying 21 rebounds. Sami Clark also scored ten and Nahley finished with her seven first-half points. The Geoducks out-rebounded NCU 43-31 including 17 offensive boards, but couldn't overcome 26 turnovers.

NCU will be back in action on Monday, traveling to Kirkland, Washington to face Northwest (8-10, 4-6). Evergreen State will play host to Corban University (14-5, 8-2).