Meghan Hughes had 16 points and 13 rebounds in Lady Yotes win
CALDWELL, Idaho - Meghan Hughes recorded her first career double-double, including a key jumper late in the contest, as The College of Idaho opened the second half of the Cascade Conference season with a key 54-48 victory over Southern Oregon, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The junior canned an 18-foot jumper to cap a 14-5 run, as the Lady Yotes (11-9, 6-4 CCC) took a 49-42 lead with less than three minutes to play. SOU would respond with back-to-back treys from Whitney Scott to pull the visitors within a point, but the Raiders would not score again. Tyra Rickman and Katelin Shannon each hit two free throws, with Nicole Gall adding a freebie to close the scoring.
After spotting the Raiders (13-9, 6-4) an early 5-0 lead, the Lady Yotes rattled off eight straight points, including back-to-back three’s from Gall, to take their first lead. With her first bucket, the senior became the all-time leading scorer in program history, now with 1,399 points.
SOU would take a 10-8 lead on a Josi McDermott lay-up, but not score for an eight-minute stretch, as a three-point play from Hughes capped a 12-0 run to give The C of I their biggest lead of the night at 20-10. The Raiders would battle back, using a 13-3 push of their own to draw even, before a Katelin Shannon put-back at the buzzer gave the Lady Yotes a 25-23 lead at the break.
The second half would feature six ties, with a Scott free throw line jumper giving Southern their final lead at 37-35, before the Lady Yotes would make their final push.
Hughes had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the win, with Nicole Bruce adding ten points and six rebounds. Gall had seven points, five rebounds, and four steals for the Coyotes, who won despite committing 31 turnovers.
Scott led the Raiders with 19 points, with Alexi Smith adding ten points and seven rebounds – but SOU was outrebounded 47-36 and made just 28-percent of their field goal attempts.
The Lady Yotes return to action tomorrow night, hosting Oregon Tech at 5:30 p.m.