ASHLAND, Ore. – Southern Oregon University’s freshman Autumn Durand scored a career best 30 points, with nine rebounds, and two blocks pushing them passed the Evergreen Geoducks in the first round of the Cascade Conference Champions tournament with a 80-70 win.
The Raiders shot 14 of 42 in the first half, but went 100 percent (7-7) from the free throw line making the score 37-28 at the half.
Evergreen’s Sammi Clark had 22 points, and Jessica Denomn collected 12 points and 14 rebounds, but that wasn’t enough to push passed the Raiders. Evergreen finished their season with a record of 14-12.
Ashley Claussen had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Junior Cambie Edwards had a career high of 13 points, and brought down five rebounds for the Raiders. Carly Meister had nine points on the game.
Former CCC player of the week Allison Gida had 12 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks on the night for the Raiders but struggled offensively. “It was nice to see players stepping up when people weren’t making their shots they would normally make,” said Gida.
Southern Oregon (24-7) now advances to semi finals for the second straight season and will play top seeded Eastern Oregon (23-8) on Friday. The Raiders haven’t won in La Grande in five years but are hopeful for Friday nights match up.
“We all have to be on the same page, not sag off shooters, and keep them in front of us,” said Gida. “We need to push the ball and get easy buckets. Eastern is very good, but beatable. It will be an exciting game to play in, and for fans to watch.”
Southern Oregon, now 8-0 (11-3 overall) at home played their final game at Bob Riehm Arena this season due to second-seeded Oregon Tech and third-seeded College of Idaho also advancing in the tournament with wins as well.
Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 P.M. at Eastern Oregon University.
