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Raiders make it look easy By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings They think they've earned it, but don't believe they get it and now are determined to win despite the lack of it. It's all about respect for the Southern Oregon University women's basketball team. Kelley Dexter had 25 points and 11 rebounds and three of her teammates also scored in double figures as the top-seeded and 21st-ranked Raiders walloped eighth-seeded Warner Pacific, 90-75, Tuesday night at McNeal Pavilion in the first round of Cascade Conference playoffs. The win advanced SOU (20-9) into Friday's semifinal round, where it will take on Eastern Oregon University (14-12). That game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at McNeal Pavilion. SOU's latest blowout tipped off just hours after the league released the results of its annual all-star vote - a tally that didn't sit well with the Raiders. Senior forward Kara Magee-Arick was named co-Player of the Year, but senior guard Sara Marks - a leading candidate for POY - came in third in the vote count and only one other SOU player - Dexter - made the list. Dexter was an honorable mention. "There's no respect at all," said Raider head coach Kevin Wilson, who was named the league's Coach of the Year. "We got the last-place team coming in here popping off. There hasn't been a lot of respect for us and I guess they're just getting tired of getting killed. But they're going to have to get used to it." The Raiders used an 11-1 run near the end of the first half to break open what had been a back-and-forth game and took a 41-29 lead. Behind Dexter's 14 first-half points and Marks' 12, the Raiders grabbed a 48-36 lead heading into the break, then turned it on in the second half. Lindsey Hilaire's jumper with 13:20 to go sparked a 9-0 SOU run that gave the Raiders their largest lead of the game, 22, with 10:40 left. Raider senior guard Adrienne Dolezal scored five points in that span - three from long range and two on a coast-to-coast lay-up after her own steal. Warner Pacific got no closer than 15 the rest of the way. "We love to get out there and run," said Dexter, who also had five assists, five steals and a block in one of her most complete games to date. "We know we can pull it out. We don't like having those spurts, but we always know somebody's going to get on fire and it just depends on when we do it." Marks had 19 points, six assists and three steals in 22 foul-plagued minutes, Magee-Arick added 13 points and four rebounds and Dolezal ended up with 12 points, six assists and two steals. The Knights out-shot the Raiders 43 percent to 41 percent, but Southern got off 17 more attempts thanks mostly to its 15 steals and two blocks. Warner Pacific turned the ball over 21 times, while SOU had just 10 miscues. Marks said the POY snub hurt. "I mean, I felt like I got gypped out," she said. "I'm really excited that Kara got it and she deserved it, but I felt like I worked just as hard. There definitely were some coaches that did not give us any respect. "I don't really care about the whole MVP thing - I didn't come here for that. I'm just here to have fun. But, I felt bad for our team." Magee-Arick is sharing the CCC's top honor with Cascade's Nicole Brown, whose team lost 70-67 in overtime Tuesday to EOU. The Raiders were disappointed when they found out Brown wouldn't be coming to McNeal Pavilion, but are looking forward to Friday's game as another opportunity to prove that the league made a big mistake. "We just want to go out and show that they were totally wrong (with) their votes," Dexter said. Added Wilson: "It's a big motivational factor. We feel like we got slapped in the face. We were in first place by a lot, by three games, and we crushed everybody, so we felt like we deserved a little bit more. "I feel sorry for Eastern Oregon." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -