ASHLAND – Slow to the start, and fast to the finish, the Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech women’s basketball game featured eight lead changes within the second half before the 20th-ranked Oregon Tech Owls (18-3, 6-3) would come away with the 83-71 victory over the Raiders last Saturday at Bob Riehm Arena.
Down early in the first half, the Owls led the Raiders 21-8 before former Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) player of the week Allison Gida, put up 17 points for the Raiders making it 42-35 at the half.
“Our main focus for that game was defense, know where the shooters were and don’t drop off of them and to push their posts out past 5 feet. Also to rebound the ball and limit their offensive boards” said Gida, a senior guard from Ashland.
Rebounding the ball was no problem for Gida, as she put up 12 rebounds with 28 points, and four assists earning her third double double of the season.
The Owls went 21-26 from the line and made 10 of 21 three-point attempts. Karissa Dixon was 4 of 8 beyond the three-point line, putting up 19 points and seven assists for the Owls.
Kristen Schoenherr had 16 points, and Autumn Durand had 10 points for the Raiders.
“The spark that got us going towards the end of the second half was our coach Lynn Kennedy. He called a time out and in a way calmed us down but at the same time got after us…he said ‘Just go out there and play basketball and play together like we do in practice.’ and I think that all fed us the energy to work harder and to relax”, said Gida.
Cambri Edwards had eight points and five rebounds and gave the Raiders their last lead of the game with a layup making it 66-65 in the second half.
SOU made one field goal within the last five minutes of the game, but that wasn’t enough as OIT out shot the Raiders with 22 more field goal attempts and had seven less turnovers.
The Raiders, now 16-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play, will face the number 1 and number 2 ranked teams in the CCC this weekend hosting College of Idaho Friday, and Eastern Oregon on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for tip off at 5:30 pm.
