Southern Oregon Answers Every Geoducks Question
Every time The Evergreen State College seemed to ask a question by putting together a potential game-changing run against No. 11-ranked Southern Oregon on Saturday night, the Raiders had an answer.
As a result, the Raiders (11-1 overall, CCC 3-1) rolled out of Costantino Recreation Center with an 85-67 Cascade Collegiate Conference women's basketball win over the Geoducks (5-3, 3-1), who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Evergreen knew they would face a test against a deep and talented Southern Oregon team, and the visitors didn't disappoint.
The score was tied at 2-2 when Southern Oregon's Casey Williams drained a three-point shot to give the Raiders the lead for good. They led 24-11 at the end of the first quarter and by 16 points early in the second before Evergreen cut into its deficit by scoring the final eight points of the period to make it a 44-36 Southern Oregon lead at the intermission.
Evergreen had one more good run at Southern Oregon, closing to 57-50 on a pair of Deidra Miller free throws with 3:15 left in the third period, but that was when the Raiders came up with a big answer, running off 11 unanswered points. Remi Mejia and Ariel Augustine hit back-to-back three-pointers to get things started, Mejia made a steal and fed Toria Bradford for a breakaway layin, and Syd'Nee Fryer finished it with another triple.
The Geoducks got their deficit down to nine points in the fourth period but the Raiders once again had an answer and pulled away for the 18-point victory.
Evergreen shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field and 84 percent (16-for-19) at the foul line, but made just three of its 11 three-point attempts. Southern Oregon, on the other hand, was 12-for-27 from beyond the arc while shooting 44 percent overall (34-for-77). The Raiders enjoyed a 37-34 rebounding edge and scored 16 second chance points that came from 18 offensive boards.
Deidra Miller was again outstanding off the bench for the Geoducks with a game-high 21 points, and she tied Cayla Jones for team-high rebounding honors with eight. Jones chipped in 15 points and Jahpera McEachin also had 15 for the Geoducks.
Mejia paced Southern Oregon with 20 points, followed by Augustine with 19, Williams with 13 and Daranda Hinkey with 10.