SOU-William Jessup Photo Gallery (BUY THESE PHOTOS)

The Southern Oregon women shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and cruised to an 81-64 victory over William Jessup tonight at McNeal Pavilion.

Southern Oregon improved to 5-4 on the season and opens Cascade Conference play Friday at Concordia. William Jessup dropped to 0-8 on the season.

Alexi Smith (Bakersfield, Calif./Stockdale) led the Raiders with 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting in just 17 minutes of work. Josi McDermott (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) added 12 points and Whitney Scott (Tumwater, Wash./Black Hills) had 11 points.

Cassie Davidson had 16 points to lead William Jessup.

Southern Oregon jumped on the Warriors early as back-to-back 3-pointers by Carly Wood (Sacramento, Calif./Bella Vista) and Scott pushed the SOU advantage to 17-6. Nalani Barnes pushed the lead to 14 with a layup after a steal and back-to-back layups by Smith and Kiara Moore (Phoenix, Ariz./Tolleson Union) gave SOU their biggest lead of the first half at 34-14 with 6:56 to play.

In the second half, the Raiders pushed the lead up to 24 twice, first on a 3-pointer by Molly Doran (Corvallis, OR/Crescent Valley) for a 69-45 lead and then on a jumper by Scott for a 71-47 lead.

Southern Oregon forced 20 turnovers, while only committing 10. Barnes led the SOU defensive effort with four steals.