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SOU women, CU men claim key hoop victories By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings Fortunately for the Southern Oregon University women's basketball team, character counts. Undefeated in Cascade Conference play, SOU (14-7 overall, 11-0 CCC) narrowly avoided losing to Concordia (6-16, 4-7), escaping with a 66-59 win at McNeal Pavilion. "We won ugly," said the Raiders' second-year head coach Kevin Wilson. "We were out of sync and played real flat." The normally run-and-gun Raiders turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 19 times and shot an unusually low 41 percent from the floor, including a 15 percent clip (3-for-19) from behind the 3-point arc. "We were trying to go for the long play, trying to get something going," Wilson said of his team's turnover woes. The Raiders were out-rebounded by Concordia 48-45 and lost the battle at the free-throw line, converting only 7 of 12 free tosses to the Cavaliers 11 of 14 night. But an under-the-weather Raiders' squad showed why they're at the top of the CCC standings by refusing to let one of their ugliest performances of the year spoil their perfect conference season. "It shows the character of the team when we step up when one or two players weren't playing real well," Wilson said. Wilson said that two of his starters - seniors Kara Magee-Arick and Sara Marks - were both slowed by illness. But a half-speed Marks was still good for a team-high 22 points and five assists in 32 minutes. The Raiders jumped out to a 10-point first-half lead at 12-2 behind their potent running game. They took their largest lead of the game, 13, with 14:05 left in the first half when Marks hit a jumper off the feed from senior guard Adrienne Dolezal. But just like water in the desert, the lead didn't last. Concordia came back to take a two-point lead with 3:26 left in the first stanza after senior center Amanda Tweedy blocked a shot attempt by SOU sophomore guard Dani Arlyn. Then freshman guard Sara Dickson hit senior forward Heather Seyfert, who made the eight-foot jumper to give the Cavaliers their first lead since the opening minute of the game. "It was like we went back to early season mode," Wilson said. "But we had to struggle in a game sooner or later." The Raiders may have struggled, but Wilson said a struggling win is better than a loss. "The game wasn't right, we are so used to playing at a high level," he said. "It wasn't as pretty as it has been." The Cavaliers' lead lasted about as long as Dennis Rodman's acting career, as the Raiders immediately tied the game at 30-all with 3:16 left until intermission. The Raiders went on an 8-2 run to close out the first 20 minutes, taking a 38-32 lead into the break. The Raiders never surrendered the lead again, but they did leave the door open. Concordia cut the lead to two points with 7:41 of play and to one with only 5:18 remaining. Then the door was slammed shut on the Cavs. Senior guard Ashley Nunley hit a jumper off an assist from Marks to push the Raiders' lead back to three points with 3:56 left. Nunley then made 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to four. The Raiders' defense took over the rest of the way, as Concordia turned the ball over three times and went scoreless for the final 5:18 of the game. "We didn't panic, we said, 'we're going to win this game,'" Wilson said of a time-out conversation in the second half. "An undefeated (conference) season is our goal. We made this as a team a few games ago." Wilson said his team will leave this Friday for a tough weekend road trip. But he added that being in first place in the conference has its pluses and minuses. "They (other teams) need to beat us, we're in first place, we're on top," he said. "But it's harder to stay on top than it is to get there." Men's Basketball Southern Oregon (7-16, 3-8) rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit but missed a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds of a 78-75 loss to Concordia, Tuesday night at McNeal Pavilion. Senior T.J. Caughell's steal and subsequent 3-point play with six seconds remaining pulled SOU to within one at 76-75, but after CU junior guard Steve Ford converted a pair of free throws, Caughell lost control of the ball while attempting a 20-foot jumper from the top of the arc as time expired. The SOU men face Warner Pacific next, Friday in Portland. 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 -