Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Bradford, Mejia dominate SOU's win over #14 NCU
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon's senior backcourt of
Toria Bradford and
Remi Mejia took over Sunday's marquee matchup with No. 14 Northwest Christian, navigating the 10th-ranked Raiders to 77-59 win at Mountain Avenue Gym that assured them no worse than the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Cascade Conference Tournament.
Playing their final regular-season home games, Bradford and Mejia combined for 46 points and seven steals in the Raiders' fourth win against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. They bumped their record to 24-2 and 16-2 in the Cascade Conference, two games ahead of the Beacons (20-4, 13-4) with two to go and a tiebreaker in hand thanks to their sweep of the head-to-head series.
Bradford scored 16 of her 21 in the first half, pushing SOU to a 47-32 lead by the break, and finished with four assists and three steals. Mejia went 9-of-18 with five 3-pointers and scored 16 of her 25 in the second half. She knocked down three triples within the first four minutes of the third as the Raiders upped their advantage to 21 points.
The Beacons never got closer than 16 in the fourth and had their winning streak snapped at five games. SOU is the only team to hold them under 60 points this season, also doing so in the first matchup – a 66-54 decision on Jan. 12 in Eugene.
NCU, which was stymied at 34-percent shooting (16-of-47) with 21 turnovers, has lost eight consecutive games in Ashland.
The Raiders weren't much better at 37 percent (29-of-79) but committed just seven turnovers – their lowest total of the season – and posted a 22-13 edge on the offensive glass.
Kenadee Honaker grabbed four offensive rebounds for seven total boards, and
Ariel Augustine collected five (three offensive) to go with her 17 points.
Mejia has now scored 20-plus 10 times and Bradford three times this season. It was the second time they've both done it in the same game.
Mejia also finished the weekend with nine 3-point makes. She's hit at least three in 20 of SOU's last 21 games.
Freshman post Anamaria Virjoghe's 25 points and 10 rebounds led NCU. Niki Duncan and Kaylynn Bush scored nine apiece.
The Raiders finish the regular season next Friday and Saturday at College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. The fourth-ranked Mountaineers maintain a two-game lead in first place.