SOU rolls to most lopsided win over Owls since 1980
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – The NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Game of the Week wasn't much of a game for long Saturday night.
Tenth-ranked Southern Oregon celebrated a season sweep of Oregon Tech with its most lopsided win over the Owls since 1980, 84-54 in front of 1,300 fans at Riehm Arena.
Alexi Smith (Bakersfield, Calif./Stockdale) scored 22 points and Ashley Claussen (Scotts Valley, Calif./Santa Cruz) had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds for the Raiders (23-3 overall, 13-3 Cascade Conference), who kept pace with Eastern Oregon and remained one game out of first place heading into the final week of the regular season. SOU hosts Warner Pacific and Concordia next Friday and Saturday.
Claussen made her first five 3-pointers, including four in the first half to give SOU a 53-26 halftime lead. Her first three went in on successive possessions just four minutes into the game. They were the centerpiece of a 12-2 run that put SOU up 19-9.
The Owls eventually stopped the run to make it 19-12, but they got stuck on that number for the next six minutes, allowing the Raiders to run away with 16 unanswered points.
Kristen Schoenherr (Rainier, Wash./Rainier) registered 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals to help SOU's cause. Courtney West (Sydney, Australia/Port Hacking) had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Raiders had a 35-20 advantage on points in the paint. Their largest lead was at 78-42 with 3:34 remaining.
Oregon Tech (18-10, 7-9) got 11 points apiece from Karissa Harbick and Tess Armstrong, while Rebekah Matteri chipped in eight points and four boards. The Owls shot 36 percent (22-for-62) and committed 21 turnovers.
Claussen has now made at least four 3-pointers in six of SOU's last 10 games. She only missed one, and the Raiders went 8-for-13 from downtown.
The sweep is SOU's first in a regular-season series with OIT since the 2010-11 season.
SOU has won six straight and 11 of 12 overall. The Raiders' 13 conference wins are their most in six seasons.