Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo. Durand helps No. 6 Raiders survive scare from Oregon Tech 2/9/2016 8:25:00 PM SOU Sports Information ASHLAND – For the first 20 minutes Tuesday night, the gap between the first- and second-place teams in the Cascade Conference didn't look as wide as it has for duration of this season. The sixth-ranked Southern Oregon women's basketball team spent the first half searching for ways to get out of a hole dug by the upset-minded Oregon Tech Owls, and then found one in Autumn Durand. The junior forward, who has been a vital role player for the Raiders, took center stage in the second half, where she went 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range to score 14 of her 22 points and finished with nine rebounds in SOU's 71-64 lesson in survival at Mountain Avenue Gym. The Raiders (22-1 overall, 15-1 CCC), who moved up one spot in Tuesday's NAIA Div. II coaches' poll, gave themselves a two-game cushion over the Owls (19-6, 13-3) and Eastern Oregon in the standings with the win. They host EOU on Saturday, and if they win that and defeat College of Idaho on Sunday they will have clinched their first league title in eight years. They've now won 25 consecutive regular-season home games, but this was the first of the season decided by less than 18 points. In fact, the Owls led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter and 33-24 at the break before SOU made its move. For the first time this season, the sixth-ranked Southern Oregon women's basketball team was visibly flustered on its home floor Tuesday night, spending most of the first half searching for ways to get out of trouble against Oregon Tech. Ashleigh Vandenbrink jump-started OIT by scoring 11 of her 14 before halftime on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown. But the Raiders– who started the game 4-for-21 from the field and 1-of-6 from the free-throw line – began the third quarter on a 10-2 run, keyed by Durand's only 3-pointers. They finally took the lead when Ashley Claussen, who had been 1-for-6 in the first half, knocked down a pull-up triple to make it 39-38 with six minutes left in the third. SOU entered the fourth quarter with a 52-49 advantage and was up 61-58 with 4:20 to go. That's when Tiana Bradford came up with a steal that she turned into a transition layup, and a minute later Claussen got loose in transition and converted a basket-and-one to make it 66-58. Claussen finished with 12 points and four assists, while Carly Meister went for 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks and Toria Bradford had 10 points and four rebounds. OIT handled the SOU's defensive pressure admirably, finishing with 14 turnovers – the lowest total for a Raider opponent this season. Karly LeVeque chipped in 12 points and five assists, while Carly McIsaac had 11 points and six rebounds. The Owls, though, shot just 13-of-35 in the second half compared to SOU's 17-of-31 display. The Raiders also only committed six turnovers. SOU – which also defeated the Owls in Klamath Falls, 61-48 on Jan. 5 – have won 10 of the last 11 regular-season meetings between the teams in Ashland.