Autumn Durand, pictured right, scored a career-high 30 points in SOU's 80-70 win over Evergreen.
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon University freshman wing Autumn Durand needed no time to adapt to postseason pressure, delivering a career-best performance Tuesday that has the fourth-seeded Raiders in the semifinals of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank.
On a night when SOU’s top two scorers in conference play combined to shoot 2-for-21, Durand stepped up with 30 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in guiding the Raiders to an 80-70 win over Evergreen at Bob Riehm Arena.
They’ll get top-seeded Eastern Oregon next on Friday at 7 p.m. in La Grande.
Ashley Claussen helped with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Raiders (24-7 overall). Cambie Edwards had a career-high 13 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Evergreen, which was held to 36-percent shooting (26-for-72) and trailed for the final 30 minutes, got 22 points from Sammi Clark plus 12 points and 14 boards from Jessica Denmon. The Geoducks, who earned the No. 5 seed in the tourney, finished up at 14-12 in 13th-year coach Monica Heuer’s final season.
Durand scored 15 in each half and kept the Raiders afloat as they shot 14-for-42 in the first stanza but maintained a 37-28 lead.
When the Geoducks scored the first six points of the second, Claussen came back with a 3-pointer before Durand got into the lane for a basket-and-one. That was the start of a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 15.
The Raiders kept their distance from then on, and Durand’s second 3-pointer with 6:47 left made it 63-51, effectively shutting the door.
Durand’s previous career high had been 25, but in her last 10 games she was averaging just 7.4. She finished 11-of-17 from the field.
Carly Meister contributed nine points on 4-for-5 shooting inside, helping the Raiders to a 48-34 edge in the paint. Allison Gida struggled offensively but added 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
The Raiders are now 8-0 at home in the first round of the CCC tournament and will advance to the semifinals for the second straight season. Evergreen dropped to 0-8 in the tourney.
The Raiders’ next challenge will be slightly steeper. They haven’t defeated Eastern Oregon (23-8) in their last eight tries and will be going for their first win in La Grande in five years. The Mountaineers were 80-70 winners Tuesday over eighth-seeded Northwest Christian in a game that was tied with 12 minutes left.
Second-seeded Oregon Tech and third-seeded College of Idaho also advanced, meaning the Raiders have played their final game at home, where they went 11-3.