Olympia, Wash. –The No. 22 Northwest Christian University women's basketball team completed a season sweep over Evergreen following an 86-61 blowout victory on Saturday night.
Morgan McKinney scored 10 of the Beacons first 12 points as NCU jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the first quarter. The Beacons entered halftime with a 42-37 edge before putting their foot on the gas to outscore the Geoducks 44-24 in the second half. The Beacons shot 47.8% from the field for the game as they outrebounded Evergreen 49-39.
NCU's defense was stingy as they held the Cascade Collegiate Conference's leading scorer Trinity Betoney to just 15 points on 4-18 shooting. Evergreen shot 31% from the field and just 16.7% from beyond the arc for the game. The Beacons grabbed 13 steals as they forced 22 Geoduck turnovers.
Head Coach
Chad Meadors stated, "It's so dang tough to play on the road on the second end of a back to back and that showed as our kids came out sluggish in the first half but we regrouped and were much more solid in the second half. Over the course of the game we went to half court man to man which helped us get some stops and hold a team to a lower shooting percentage."
Morgan McKinney was outstanding as she led the Beacons (15-4, 9-2) with a season-high 29 points and ten rebounds on 11-16 shooting from the field while
Aspen Slifka tallied 24 points, four rebounds and three steals. Senior
Shanay Dotson scored 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists while
Kaylen Kamelamela added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds in the win.
Meadors said, "Morgan took over, they couldn't stop her down on the block and it was something we attacked and then Aspen came alive in the second half as
Kaylen Kamelamela was able to find her and Shanay. It's fun to see our kids share the ball and pull away from a team lead by our defense. We have another great opportunity on Tuesday against Corban as we hope to create some distance in the standings."
Trinity Betoney led the Geoducks (4-12, 4-9) with 15 points and five rebounds while Merrily Jones added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
The Beacons will return home to host Corban University in a clash among the top two teams in the Cascade Conference standings on Tuesday, January 28, at 5:30pm. The game has a lot at stake for both teams as they fight for the number one spot in the CCC standings, NCU currently holds the 1-0 margin this season.
