Box Score BOX SCORE

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon built a 21-point lead early in the second half en route to a 69-54 nonconference women's basketball victory over Great Falls Saturday night as part of the SOU Season Opening Classic at Bob Riehm Arena.

With the win, SOU improves to 2-0 this season. Great Falls drops to 1-1 with the loss and will close out the tournament with a matchup against Holy Names tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Raiders travel to Florida next week for three road games, beginning with a game against Warner on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

Southern Oregon scored the final seven points of the opening half to pick up their first double-digit lead of the game and take a 38-26 advantage into the break. Turnovers told the story early as the Raiders forced 27 Great Falls turnovers in the first half and scored 21 points off the Argonauts' giveaways.

After Josi McDermott (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) scored a layup to open the second half, Chelsea Adams hit a three-pointer on the other end of the court to make it 40-29. The Raiders would score the next nine points as UGF went nearly five minutes without scoring before Sarah Sciascia's jumper made it 49-31.

Southern Oregon led by as many as 21 points twice during the second half, first following McDermott's three-pointer to make it 52-31 with 14:16 to play and a few minutes later at 57-36 following a trey by Chiquita Thomas. Great Falls used a 16-6 run to pull within 11 points following Sydnee Burke's three with 2:44 to play, but four consecutive free throws by Nalani Hernandez (Tucson, Ariz./Tucson) and Angelica Cahee (Oroville, Calif./) pushed the SOU advantage back to 15 with just over one minute remaining.

McDermott finished with a game-high 19 points, while Hernandez tallied 12 points and tied Kiara Moore (Phoenix, Ariz./Tolleson Union) for the team-lead with eight rebounds. Cahee also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 10 points.

For the Argonauts, Sciscia's 12 points led the way and Kindra Jones added 11, with both players posting a double-double with 10 rebounds. Khayla Gladney finished with a game-high 11 boards in the loss.

Southern Oregon took 28 more shots than Great Falls in the game, including 20 more in the first half, due to a 36-18 spread in turnovers. Both teams struggled to convert their shot attempts, as the Argonauts shot 30.8 percent (16-of-52) with the Raiders at 28.8 percent (23-of-80).