ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University women's basketball team didn't need its 73-62 victory Saturday night over Evergreen State at Bob Riehm Arena to be pretty.
The Raiders (21-6 overall, 10-5 Cascade Conference) just needed a win of any sort to set up a pivotal matchup next Saturday at archival Oregon Tech, and they got it thanks to Carly Meister's 20 points and 16 rebounds and Ashley Claussen's 11 points, seven assists and six boards.
Sammi Clark scored 17 to lead three players in double figures for the Geoducks (11-10, 7-7), who had won five of six conference games on the road entering the night. They were hampered by 32.9-percent shooting (23-for-70) a night after Northwest shot 35 percent against the Raiders.
SOU didn't completely capitalize on the strong defense: it had 24 turnovers, but still led 40-29 despite 15 in the first half thanks to 17-for-29 shooting. A 50-32 edge inside helped, as Meister went 9-for-13, Brenna Anderson went 4-for-6 with nine points and seven boards, and Kiara Moore cleaned up with nine rebounds off the bench.
Allison Gida added 11 points and three rebounds. Kristen Schoenherr was 8-for-15 with 16 points and six boards despite 11 turnovers.
Evergreen, which turned it over just nine times, got 12 points and five steals out of reserve Natasha Trinidad. Jessica Denmon recorded eight points and five rebounds.
The Raiders never trailed, going on a 17-4 run in the first eight minutes while the Geoducks endured a seven-minute drought without a field goal.
The Geoducks cut SOU's lead to 55-48 with 8:34 left before Meister's layup started a 15-5 run.
Meister, a 6-foot-2 post, matched her career high in rebounds – pulling down six of them on the offensive end – and notched her ninth double-double of the season.
Southern Oregon, which has won four straight, can now look toward next weekend's game in Oregon Tech against the Owls, who won the first matchup in Ashland, 83-71, on Jan. 18. This one will break a tie for second place in the conference standings.