Pair of Wins in Tacoma to Start 23-24 Season

Tacoma, WA – The women's basketball season finally got underway Friday afternoon with a trip to Tacoma.  After three scrimmages the squad was ready to get the 2023-24 campaign going and held a 19-13 lead in the first 10 minutes of the young season.  Freshman Baylor Thomas had 10 of the team's 19 points, and the Trojans were 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. 

EvCC held the lead throughout the first half and by as many as seven before going into the half up 29-26. Tacoma got the first bucket of the second half, but from there it was all Trojans.  EvCC forced five turnovers and held Tacoma to seven points through the first five minutes, while converting on the offensive end to extend their lead.  After another Baylor Thomas three, Eden Moore hit her first three of her college career to put the Trojans up by 13. 

Everett kept it rolling and pushed the lead out to as many as 22 with less than four minutes remaining in the game.  By the final buzzer the Trojans outscored Tacoma 45-26 in the second half and cruised to the 74-52 win.  It was a huge night for Baylor Thomas who scored 32 points in her college debut.  She went 13 of 19 from the field and hit 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.  Another freshman Perla Ruiz scored 16 and led the team with 7 assists, and added 5 steals.

As a team the Trojans shot 48% from the field and made 9 of 27 from three.  Meanwhile on the defensive end EvCC held Tacoma to 35% shooting and forced 22 turnovers. 

The next day, Everett traveled back to Tacoma to face another west region opponent, this time it would be the Highline Thunderbirds.  Again, EvCC was able to get the offense going early and jumped out to a 15-2 lead that was capped by back-to-back threes by Perla Ruiz and Ashlynd Hunt.  Highline eventually chipped back to take a brief 26-25 lead with three minutes to play in the half but Baylor Thomas answered with a drive and score on the next possession out of a timeout and reclaimed the lead. Everett would go into the half up 33-28, getting to the line 16 times and converting 12 free throws.   

Highline got the first bucket of the second half but Baylor Thomas had the first seven Trojan points to keep EvCC in the lead.  The defense clamped down, while the shots continued to fall and by the start of the 4^th Everett lead by 13.  Ashlynd Hunt was perfect 6 for 6 from the field and scored the first four points of the 4^th quarter before finally missing a three-point attempt.  She would go on to finish shooting six of seven and scored 15 points.  By the final buzzer the Trojans won it going away 78-58.  Perla Ruiz also scored 15 points and had 6 assists and three steals.  Once again Baylor Thomas led all scorers with 25 on 7 of 19 shooting.  Elsa Cajune had a great game off the bench scoring 9 points and hauled in 6 rebounds.  Freshman Ghadir Ramadan led EvCC in rebounding with 9 boards, 4 on the offensive end. 

Back-to-back wins is a great start for the 2023-2024 Trojans, averaging 76 points while holding opponents to an average of 55 points.  EvCC will have to wait two weeks to hold that momentum, but will return home for the 27^th annual Women's Basketball Classic hosted at the Walt Price Center.  Everett will get three straight home games, hosting Spokane CC on Friday, December 1^st followed by Big Bend CC, and concluding with Clackamas CC on Sunday afternoon.  Tip off against Spokane will be at 7pm.