Carrie Thibault led the Owls with 16 points, including 4-for-4 from the 3-point line. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Second Half Surge Lifts Southern Oregon over Oregon Tech, 89-78
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Tied 67-all with eight minutes to play, Southern Oregon used a 12-0 surge over a three minute span and held on for an 89-78 victory over Oregon Tech in Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball action tonight at Danny Miles Court.
The loss drops Tech to 16-5 on the season and 5-4 in CCC play. No. 14 Southern Oregon improved to 16-2 overall and 7-2 in the conference standings.
The rivals battled through four ties to open the game before a Kristen Schoenherr triple followed by a Carly Meister layup pushed SOU out to a 19-14 advantage.
The teams traded scores over the next 11 minutes with the visitors holding a 36-33 edge late in the first half. A 12-0 run, capped by a Brenna Anderson jumper gave SOU their largest lead of the period, 48-33.
Tech’s Carrie Thibault (pictured) connected from long range for the last score of the opening stanza, as the Owls trailed by a dozen at the intermission, 48-36.
Back-to-back Thibault treys to open the second half inspired the Owls, as the home team eventually cut their deficit to six, 57-51, on a pair of Thibault freebies with 16:04 remaining.
Tech kept the game close over the next seven minutes before Ashley Claussen’s triple pushed SOU up seven with 9:42 to go.
A 7-0 run for the Owls, capped by five-straight Reb Matteri points, tied the contest at 67-all with 8:05 left in the game.
Over the next three minutes, however, it was all SOU from that point and after a 12-0 run, the Raiders put the game out of reach.
SOU would lead by as many as 17 points, their largest of the night, before the Owls closed out on a 9-3 run for the final 89-78 score.
Carrie Thibault led the Owls with 16 points, including a 4-for-4 effort from long range. Reb Matteri chipped in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss for the Owls. Karly LeVeque would add 12 points and Tess Armstrong 11 to round out Tech’s double-digit scorers. Megan Whetstone grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with eight points.
For SOU Alexi Smith led all scorers with 26 point on 9-of-13 from the field and 8-for-11 from the charity stripe. Smith grabbed seven boards, where the Raiders held a decisive edge over the Owls 53-35, including 17 on the offensive end. Ashley Claussen added 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds with Kristen Schoenherr knocking down 17 points to go with her seven rebounds in the win. Autumn Durand was SOU’s fourth in double figures with 13 points.