HELENA, Mont. – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team held No. 18-ranked Providence (Mont.) to 19 first-half points and was in control throughout a 64-48 victory Friday in the Carroll Thanksgiving Classic.
Meghan McIntyre went for 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Sierra Scheppele hit all three of her 3-point attempts to score 15 off the bench for the Raiders (3-0), who have won each of their games by 15-plus points. The latest win was their most lopsided over an NAIA Top 25 opponent since the 2021-22 Cascade Conference Tournament championship game.
They forced the Argos – who'd been unbeaten through their previous seven games, including two against Top 25 competition – to commit 21 turnovers, eight of which they coughed up in the first quarter as SOU mounted an 18-6 lead. Clara Robbins led the defensive charge with seven rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots in addition to her seven points.
UP went scoreless over the final three minutes of the first half, and two McIntyre buckets to close it put the Raiders up 35-19 at the break. The Argos shrunk the deficit to nine points in the final minute of the third quarter before back-to-back 3s from Scheppele and Keeley Wright pushed it back to 15.
Wright totaled seven points on 3-of-4 shooting as she and Scheppele helped the Raiders to a 26-4 advantage in bench points. Makayla Scurlock chipped in seven points, and Kami Walk got through a rough shooting night to finish with nine points and three steals.
The Argos ended up at 35 percent from the field. They got 17 points from Keanna Salave'a, but her teammates combined to shoot 11-of-44.
SOU gets another shot at a ranked opponent, No. 5 Carroll (Mont.), at 3 p.m. PST Saturday before entering Cascade Conference play next week.