Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
SOU blitzes Knights early in 85-71 win
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – The Cascade Conference's top scoring defense couldn't extend far enough to stop the Southern Oregon University women's basketball team on Saturday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The 24th-ranked Raiders took an 85-71 victory from Warner Pacific, which entering the night was allowing 61 points per game in conference play. SOU (16-5 overall, 12-3 CCC) hung 31 points on the Knights (12-8, 8-6) in the first quarter and led by as many as 21 in the opening minutes of the second, shooting 10-of-20 from 3-point range in the first half to run away with its eighth win in nine games.
Daranda Hinkey ran the show with 14 points, nine assists and four rebounds, shooting 4-of-7 from outside. Ariel Augustine hit four more 3-pointers on her way to 16 points, and Syd Fryer totaled a game-high 17 points with a 3-of-5 3-point shooting display.
It was the seventh time in nine January games that the Raiders made at least 10 triples. Through their first 12 outings, they did so three times.
Going into Tuesday's game at Oregon Tech, they're two games ahead of Corban (10-3) in the win column and one in the loss column ahead of OIT (9-4), which has yet to play its back-to-back against Walla Walla.
Hinkey's assist total was a career-high. She recorded four of them on 3-point makes in the first quarter, when the Raiders hit 7-of-9 from downtown.
Trailing 48-34 at halftime, the Knights chipped away to 71-64 with 8:21 left, but were held to one field goal over the next six minutes.
Kendyl Cone scored a team-high 12 points to go with four steals for the Knights, while Bailey Allen had nine points, five assists and four more steals.
SOU's Dominique Harding contributed 10 points, six assists and four steals, and Destinee Jones had eight points and six rebounds. After Jones fouled out, however, McKenna Gilbert came in and was perfect on four attempts from the field.
The win was SOU's 14th consecutive head-to-head against the Knights.