Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
No. 5 Raiders blow out La Verne, 117-55
SOU Sports Information
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team fired on all cylinders Sunday and will go into Cascade Conference play with momentum on its side after a 117-55 defeat of La Verne (Calif.) at the Santa Cruz December Classic inside Kaiser Permanente Arena.
Seven players scored in double figures for the fifth-ranked Raiders (6-1 overall) in their sixth straight win and third-highest scoring performance in team history.
Autumn Durand had 27 points – leaving the two-day Classic with 55 – and seven rebounds, highlighting a box score that was littered with standouts.
Sydney Mullings registered her third double-double in a row with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and
Tiani Bradford had one too with 15 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. In the backcourt,
Toria Bradford had 10 points, seven steals, six rebounds and four assists, and
Demi Sahlinger added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. And on the bench,
Delaney Sparling scored 18 and
Majerle Reeves had 12, combining to shoot 9-of-15 from 3-point range.
The Raiders shot 53 percent from the field (47-of-88), their highest mark in 20 games dating back to last season, and assisted 32 of their makes. They also hit 12 of 30 3-point attempts and 11 of 13 at the free-throw line.
La Verne, an NCAA Division III team that dropped to 0-5, totaled 28 turnovers and shot 38 percent (23-of-61).
After jumping out to a 27-17 lead through one quarter, the Raiders blew it open in the second. They outscored the Leopards 41-17, sparked by
Tiani Bradford's 4-for-4 showing that included a pair of 3-pointers and three assists. They shot 18-of-25 and scored 15 points off turnovers in the frame, which was their highest-scoring since the NAIA instituted quarters prior to last season.
They hit the 100-point mark with 8:27 left to play on a
Toria Bradford layup.
The Raiders start CCC play on the road, Friday at Corban and Saturday at Northwest Christian. They'll make their home debut Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. against The Evergreen State.