Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Raiders run past Knights for 5th straight win
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – The 11th-ranked Southern Oregon women's basketball team got loose in transition in its most prolific offensive performance of the season, a 95-68 blowout of Warner Pacific on Friday night at Mountain Avenue Gym.
In the Raiders' fifth consecutive win, they run up a 26-4 advantage in fast-break points and broke down the Knights' full-court pressure often to shoot a season-high 49 percent from the field with 10 makes from downtown, and 25 of their 32 buckets were assisted. The win boosted their record to 12-1 overall and 4-1 in Cascade Conference play going into Saturday's matchup with Multnomah.
Ariel Augustine shot 7-of-11 with 18 points and eight rebounds and freshman Sophia Altemus lifted SOU off the bench with a season-high 14 points and a pair of steals. Altemus and Delaney Sparling hit two 3-pointers apiece, and Remi Mejia went 3-of-7 outside – her eighth consecutive outing with at least three 3-point makes – to finish with 11 points, eight assists and three steals.
The Knights, led by Emily Peters' 20-point performance, fell to 8-8 and 4-2.
Tied at 16-all, they watched the Raiders end the first quarter with nine unanswered points – a spurt capped by Altemus' first 3-pointer – and start the second quarter on a 12-2 run to open up the game for good.
Casey Williams chipped in 12 points and four assists, and Toria Bradford stuffed the box score with nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals. The Raiders committed 22 turnovers but forced 23 with 13 steals. They've yet to force fewer than 19 turnovers in a game this season.
They also held the Knights to 32-percent shooting (20-of-62) and limited their starting unit to just four field goals.
Grace Prom aided WPC off the bench with 13 points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
The win was SOU's 10th straight in the head-to-head series.