Mejia takes over SOU's 1st-round win over Pioneers
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The first round of the NAIA Division II Tournament was not an ideal time for the question to be raised about Southern Oregon's leading scorer, but a slow start and a recent mini-cold streak inarguably invited it: What's going on with
Remi Mejia?
Over the final three quarters of the No. 10 Raiders' 77-66 win over No. 24 Antelope Valley (Calif.) late Wednesday night at the Tyson Events Center, the senior all-star guard answered emphatically. After missing her first six shots and getting shut out in the first quarter, Mejia torched the Pioneers with 28 points, seven rebounds and three steals, shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 5-of-11 from 3.
SOU (28-4 overall), seeded No. 3 in the Naismith quadrant of the 32-team bracket, moved on to play No. 2-seeded and seventh-ranked Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in Friday's second round at 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time. The Tigers (28-6) were 78-62 winners over Indiana University East in their game Wednesday, getting past the first round for the third consecutive season.
The Raiders are through to the second round for the sixth time in team history and third time in four years. Their tournament veteran, senior point guard
Toria Bradford, steadied the latest ride with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, six assists and two steals.
UAV (22-7), the Cal Pac Conference champion and No. 6 seed in the quadrant, entered the matchup with an abysmal 28-percent clip from 3 on the season and went 9-of-26 in the game. At one point in the third, however, the Pioneers were 7-of-13 and found themselves leading 48-42 with five minutes left in the period.
The sudden deficit – after the Raiders led by as many as eight in the first half – triggered the start of the Mejia show. On back-to-back possessions she stared down defenders and dribbled into netted 3-pointers, and with 2:32 left in the third she floated through the paint for a jumper that swung the lead back to SOU, 53-52. She hit another wide-open 3, after taking a dish from Bradford, to put the Raiders up 58-54 at the end of the quarter, then started the fourth with another floater that put them up six.
The Pioneers, lifted by Samantha Earl's 20 points and five assists, weren't done. Earl's third 3 of the game tied it, 62-62, with 6:39 left. But a minute later, Mejia untied it for the last time with another contested floater off the backboard, and her steal that led to an
Ariel Augustine bucket made it a two-possession game again with 4:41 left.
Augustine finished with 11 points. Another junior forward,
Destinee Jones, provided a unique boost by absorbing five Pioneer offensive fouls.
Jones took two charges over the final three minutes. Following the last one, Mejia broke UAV's full-court pressure and dumped off to
Casey Williams for a layup turned three-point play, making it 71-64 with 1:49 to go.
Both teams finished at 42 percent from the field, but the Raiders had a 30-18 turnover edge.
Kenadee Honakercontributed two first-quarter triples, while Jones and
Syd'Nee Fryer combined for nine points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
The Cal Pac remained winless at the tourney since 2006.
Mejia's display was her seventh with 25-plus points this season, and her fourth in the last month. But she was coming off two Cascade Conference Tournament games in which she combined to go 7-of-31 from the field.
Eight quick points in the second quarter alleviated any lingering concerns. By the end of the third, she had changed the conversation completely.