schoenherr
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
Kristen Schoenherr was one of five Raiders in double figures.
63
College of Idaho CI 8-20
78
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 26-3
College of Idaho CI
8-20
63
Final
78
Southern Oregon SOU
26-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
College of Idaho CI 19 44 63
Southern Oregon SOU 43 35 78

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | SOU Sports Information

Raiders start fast, cruise into conference semifinals

ASHLAND – The eighth-ranked Southern Oregon University women's basketball team didn't have to sweat for long in Tuesday's quarterfinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank at Riehm Arena.

The Raiders, who took the No. 2 seed into the tourney, defeated seventh-seeded College of Idaho 78-63, holding the Coyotes to two buckets until nearly 12 minutes into the first half as they raced to a 27-4 lead.

SOU will host fifth-seeded Oregon Tech in Friday's semifinals at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year's tournament championship game. The Raiders swept the regular-season series by an average of 20.5 points.

Conference MVP candidate Ashley Claussen (Scotts Valley, Calif./Santa Cruz) paced five Raiders in double figures with 13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Kristen Schoenherr (Rainier, Wash./Rainier) scored 13, Courtney West (Sydney, Australia/Port Hacking) had 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Carly Meister (Elma, Wash./Elma) and Autumn Durand (Onalaska, Wash./Onalaska) poured in 10 points apiece.

The Raiders scored the first 11 points of night, thanks in part to consecutive Schoenherr 3-pointers, and made six of their first seven attempts. The Yotes recorded six misses and three turnovers before their second make.

"Out of all the playoff games we've had recently, that was probably the best start," SOU coach Lynn Kennedy said. "We know they're a good team and capable of scoring, and they had some really good shooting games the last couple weeks. We were ready to defend and really set the tempo in that first five to 10 minutes."

The Yotes had to rally to bring their shooting percentage to 22 (8-for-37) by halftime. They ended up at 36 percent, becoming the ninth straight Raider opponent to shoot 36 percent or worse. They also only got to the free-throw line for four attempts.

Elisha Hensey scored a team-high 21 points with six rebounds and four assists for the Yotes, whose season ends with a record of 8-20. Kellie Ross went 7-for-11 off the bench with four 3-pointers for 18 points and four assists, and Brittany Wirth registered 10 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and two blocks.

Oregon Tech was a 69-62 winner at Evergreen. The Raiders have a chance to beat the Owls three times after the Owls did the same to them last season.

"We have to be ready again defensively, because they're one of the best shooting teams in the conference and they'll be feeling confident," Kennedy said.

In Tuesday's other semifinals, No. 6 Northwest Christian defeated No. 3 Corban (60-59) and No. 1 Eastern Oregon defeated No. 8 Concordia (70-63).
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