Geoducks rally to win thriller

EVERGREEN: Women beat UPS, 46-45; men rout shorthanded Lewis & Clark

GAIL WOOD; The Olympian | • Published November 20, 2009

Comments (0)

photos Photos

OLYMPIA - For two years, Latrina Woods was out of college basketball, working and missing her favorite game.

She’s back.

On Thursday night, Woods continued her comeback by scoring 16 points, hitting the game-winner in the closing seconds to lift Evergreen State College to a 46-45 comeback win over Puget Sound.

“I got a second chance. I’m blessed,” said Woods, a junior guard who left LaSierra University in 2007. “I play every game like it’s my last. I missed it.”

UPS led 43-38 on Jocelyn Riordan’s basket with 3:16 left. But Evergreen finished with an 8-2 run, taking a 46-45 lead on Woods’ left-handed hook in the lane with 8 seconds left.

“This is Monica’s best team in my 12 years,” UPS coach Suzy Barcomb said. “They’re very physical. They don’t give up and they have Woods at point.”

UPS had a chance to win but missed a 2-foot running jumper off an inbounds pass in the closing seconds.

“Tonight we finished well,” Evergreen coach Monica Heuer said. “We have a lot of transfers. They’re still getting used to playing together. We’re getting better.”

In the men’s game, Nate Menefee scored 20 points and four Evergreen players finished in double figures in a 71-44 blowout win against Lewis & Clark College.

Menefee, a first-team All-American, was coming off a 57-point game.

“The way they were playing, it’s pretty good to score 71,” Evergreen coach Jeff Drinkwine said. “I emptied my bench in the first half. That’s the first time I’ve done that.”

All 11 of the Evergreen players that played scored.

“I got a chance to play a lot of guys. That was good,” Drinkwine said.

The Evergreen women picked up their first win after losing by four, three and two points in their previous three games. Evergreen, which had 23 turnovers and shot only 38 percent in the first half, is still lacking consistency.

“It’s about concentration on what we’re doing,” Heuer said. “We need to keep that mental toughness.”

Evergreen trailed 34-24 and 38-28 midway through the second half. A Geoducks team that returns only three starters and has six transfers again showed its no-quit grit.

“When we get behind, that’s what intensifies us,” Woods said. “We’ve got this fight. I’m happy we don’t give up.”

In the closing minute, Evergreen took its first lead since the first half when Angel Stewart swished a 15-foot jump shot, giving the Geoducks a 44-43 lead with 59 seconds left.

UPS came right back on Natasha Ludwig’s layup for a 45-44 lead with 44 seconds left.

Early in the game, Evergreen led 16-9 on Cambria Smith’s field goal midway through the first half. But UPS went on an 11-2 run, taking a 20-18 lead on Claire Ely’s free throw.

Woods made a fastbreak layup at the buzzer to tie the score 20-20 at halftime.

UPS, which dropped to 1-1, shot only 29 percent, making 16 of 55 shots. Guards Kelsey McKinnis and Riordan were a combined 8-for-28 and led the Loggers with 12 points each.

“We’re young,” Barcomb said.

Guard Alex Saab added 10 points and was the other Geoducks player in double figures.

The Evergreen men led 34-24 at halftime, hitting 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Guard Josh Troyer went 3-from-3 from behind the bonus arc in the first half and Menefee went 2-for-3.

Lewis & Clark played deliberately in the second half, passing the ball and waiting until there were only a few seconds left on the shot clock before shooting. The Pioneers slowed the game but it didn’t help their shooting percent. They shot 28 percent in the second half, making just 6-of-21 shots.

Lewis & Clark played without four starters and seven of its top eight players because of disciplinary reasons.

Desmond Martin scored 12 points for Evergreen, Josh Troyer added 11 and Ryan Freeman had 10.