by OLYMPIA, Wash. – Southern Oregon added 12 makes from 3-point range to its usual winning formula in handing The Evergreen State its first Cascade Conference loss, 85-67, on Saturday night at the Costantino Recreation Center.
Led by Remia Mejia’s 20 points on 4-of-6 3-point accuracy, the 11th-ranked Raiders shot 44 percent from the field and downtown to complete a weekend road sweep and bump their records to 11-1 overall and 3-1 in the CCC.
They never trailed in their 10th consecutive win against the Geoducks (5-3, 3-1), but their lead was down to 57-50 with three minutes left in the third quarter. That’s when SOU went on an 11-0 run – built on consecutive 3-point makes for Mejia, Ariel Augustine and Syd’Nee Fryer, and a Mejia steal that led to Toria Bradford‘s easy layup.
Augustine, a junior forward, shot 8-of-16 to score a season-high 19 points with six rebounds. Casey Williams totaled 13 points, Daranda Hinkey (Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone) scored 10 with two triples, four assists and three steals off the bench, and Bradford went for eight points and three steals.
A night after getting up 31 more field-goal attempts than Northwest, the Raiders got 27 more than Evergreen with advantages of 22-10 in turnovers and 18-9 in offensive rebounds.
Mejia, in leading SOU to its best 3-point clip of the season, scored 13 of her points in the second half. It was her fifth 20-plus-point performance in the Raiders’ last eight outings.
Deidra Miller’s 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench led the Geoducks, who shot 48 percent overall (24-of-50) but only made three from beyond the arc. By the end of the first quarter, they were in a 24-11 hole.
SOU won’t play its next CCC game until Dec. 29 in Ashland against Warner Pacific, but plays an exhibition at NCAA Division I school San Jose State on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
