Melissa Sweat led all scorers with 23 points
SOU Women Hold Off Northwest for 89-90 Victory
BOX SCORE
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon staved off two double-digit comebacks by Northwest to earn an 89-80 Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball victory Saturday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play, while Northwest falls to 2-14 overall and 1-8 in the CCC. The Raiders return to action Friday, when they will travel to Caldwell, Idaho, for a 5:30 p.m. conference matchup with No. 21 College of Idaho.
Both teams struggled shooting in the game, as the Raiders made 38.1 percent of their shots (24-of-63) and the Eagles connected on 32.9 percent (23-of-70). Free throws, on the other hand, proved to come much more easily for each team. Southern Oregon made 85.7 percent (36-of-42) of its shots from the free throw line while Northwest shot 80.6 percent (29-of-36) from the charity stripe.
Melissa Sweat led all scorers with 23 points, with Ashley Claussen and Allison Gida each tallying 18 points. Alexi Smith posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Domi Mendezona scored 18 points to lead Northwest, with Sanda Milovic adding 16 and Alyssa Dario finishing with 13. Southern Oregon out-rebounded Northwest 56-41 in the win.
The Raiders stormed out to a 14-3 lead less than three minutes into the game and stretched their advantage to 18 points midway through the first half. While it looked like it might become a blowout early, Northwest did not get the memo and the Eagles closed the half on a 26-10 run to pull within 43-41 at halftime.
Dario made the first basket of the second half to complete the comeback for the Eagles and tie the game at 43-apiece. The score remained close for the next five minutes before a pair of free throws by Smith began a 30-16 SOU run that put the Raiders up 80-66 with 4:18 to play.
Even then the Eagles were not ready to call it a night, as Northwest scored 12 of the next 16 points to pull within six at 84-78 with just over one minute remaining. While that final run helped the Eagles put pressure on the Raiders to the final buzzer, Southern Oregon made five of six free throw attempts down the stretch to close out the first half of the conference season with a nine-point win.