After posting its most conference wins in seven years, The Evergreen State College women’s basketball program continued its upward trend this season under head coach Jackie Robinson.
Led by senior Trinity Betoney and leading scorer Sha’nece Garrett, the Geoducks finished with seven wins in the Cascade Collegiate Conference play and a 9-16 overall record in Robinson’s second season at the helm.
“It was actually a really hard start of the year because my first year (two seasons ago) we had a roster full of seniors,” said Robinson, who inherited a squad that was 2-22 the year before he arrived. “Everything you built up that first season kind of went away. We didn’t have a season last year because of COVID. So, outside of Trinity, we were basically an entirely new team this year. We were very young, but I kept telling them to keep working hard because we will be good in January.”
Robinson’s prediction proved to be accurate as Evergreen became a tough out no matter who they played against once the 2022 portion of their schedule hit with the highlight coming in a 58-47 home victory over eventual conference runner-up Southern Oregon University, which snapped the Raiders’ season-best 12-game winning streak.
“I think once we beat Southern Oregon the team started to have the mindset that we could play with anyone,” Robinson said. “They started to believe in what we were doing after that. Practices were a lot more focused. They all bought in after that win.”
The Geoducks finished the year ninth in the CCC standings, one spot out of advancing to the postseason, yet laying the foundation for next year’s success.
“We’re very excited for next season,” said Robinson, a former head coach at both Olympia High School and River Ridge High School where he guided both programs to multiple playoff appearances. “We lose Trinity, who has been such a huge part of our program, but we have everyone else coming back. I am very confident with where the program is headed.”
As Robinson should be as he will welcome back a gifted roster headlined by Garrett, who was named the 2021-2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Newcomer of the Year.
Garrett, a 5-foot-6-inch guard from Sonora, California, transferred to Evergeen after playing a year at Merced Community College. She finished her first season with the Geoducks averaging 15.6 points and 2.2 steals per game, finishing fourth in the conference in both categories.
“Sha’nece was such a valuable addition to her team,” Robinson said. “At the start of January things really started to click for her. She was scoring, but also making everyone around her better. I am very excited for her future.”
Garrett went on a scoring tear during the final 15 regular season games, scoring 17 or more points in 10 contests. She scored a career-high 28 points against Northwest, one of six 20-point games on the season for the sophomore.
In addition to being named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year, Garrett was also named first-team all-conference.
Betoney, who starred at South Puget Sound Community College before making her way to The Evergreen State College, joined Garrett as a postseason award recipient, receiving all-conference honorable mention honors after averaging 13.8 points and 3.1 assists per game.
The 5-foot-6-inch guard/forward finished her two-season Geoducks’ career with 755 points, including scoring a school record 38 points against Northwest in 2020. Betoney becomes a two-time all-conference pick as she was a first-team selection in 2020.
“Trinity is the true definition of a program builder,” Robinson said. “We’re not as successful as a program if she doesn’t come to Evergreen. She gave Evergeen her heart and left it all on the court. I am forever grateful that she trusted me enough to come here.”
Robinson was also quick to call out the play of local products Caitlin Yenne and Jayln Sackrider in contributing to the Geoducks’ success this season.
Yenne, a 5-foot-9-inch junior guard from River Ridge High School, averaged 6 points and 4.6 rebounds this year, scoring a season-high 20 points against Montana State-Northern. Sackrider, a 6-3 forward from Elma High School, averaged 7.7 points and 6.8 rebounds during her sophomore season. Her top performance came against Walla Walla when she registered a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards.
“Both players were just huge for us this year,” Robinson said. “The truth is every player on this team was so important to us this year. It just wasn’t one player. It was a total team effort. It was Monique (Bungay). It was our bigs, Bella (Jensen), Rachel (Watson) and Lily Stewart. It was everyone on our roster. Everyone played such a large role.”
In addition to returning the bulk of his roster, Robinson will also bring in a recruiting class next season that will feature Garrett’s younger sister, Yasmine.
“We’re going to add some pieces, while bringing virtually everyone else back,” Robinson said. “I think if we can do what we need to do this offseason, it’s going to set us up to be very successful next year.”
