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Raider women sitting pretty By Rich Rosenthal For The Tidings The Cascade Conference slate is still a little less than half over, but the Southern Oregon University women's basketball team has taken an unprecedented stranglehold on first place in the regular-season league title chase. Sporting a pristine 8-0 record in loop play, the Raiders (11-7) are off to the best start in conference women's hoops history and enter home weekend frays against Northwest (Friday) and Evergreen State (Saturday) with a two-game lead over second-place Oregon Tech and a four-game advantage in the loss column over defending regular-season champion Eastern Oregon and perennial power Albertson. Southern, now 19-1 against Cascade Conference opponents since a 78-65 triumph over Warner Pacific on Jan. 19, 2002, puts four other active win streaks on the line this weekend: 12-in-a-row over league foes dating back to last February, a 10-game home skein over circuit rivals, a six-game overall run and a four-gamer at home. Although second-year head coach Kevin Wilson is quick to point out basketball championships aren't won in January, the timing of his team's fast start is ideal. For the first time in the league's 10-year history, the 2002-03 regular-season champion receives an automatic berth to the 32-team NAIA Div. II tournament, and another berth goes to either the league playoff champion or the runner-up. SOU also enters the week four victories away from securing the school's 13th consecutive winning season and two from earning a 14th straight playoff berth. **** Senior all-star forward Kara Magee-Arick propelled herself into Cascade Conference MVP consideration with sterling performances in each of the three Raider victories last week. The 6-2 Portland native garnered league Player of the Week honors for the first time in her four-year career as a result of averaging 21.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. Magee-Arick compiled a career-high 33 points with an incredible nine 3-point makes in the 26-point win at Albertson, and she finished the contest 12-for-17 from the floor. She compiled her second and third double-doubles of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Western Baptist, and 16 points and 12 caroms against Eastern Oregon. With 12 3-point makes in the three games, Magee-Arick moved into the conference season lead in the category (45), and into fourth-place on Southern's all-time list (101). As a result of 20.4 scoring and 8.3 rebounding averages over the past seven games, Magee-Arick has taken over the team lead in both categories (15.8 and 6.4, respectively). **** Although mired in or near the conference cellar all season long, both Northwest and Evergreen State each picked up victories last weekend. The Eagles won for the first time in six outings with a 67-62 overtime thriller over Evergreen last Saturday, while Geoducks snapped a four-game skid against Walla Walla (70-55) on the team's annual Autograph Day Sunday afternoon. Although NC is 0-15 against SOU dating back to 1993, the Kirkland school gave the Raiders fits in the most recent encounter. Led a by 16-point effort by junior guard Rachel Nettleton, the Eagles led 59-56 with four minutes left in the Dec. 18 meeting before SOU won by scoring 12 of the game's final 16 points. Meanwhile, the Geoducks (clams native to the Pacific Northwest waters) are just 13-92 since joining the conference in 1999. However, the school's biggest win to date remains a 59-44 screamer over the Raiders in Olympia in January of 1999. The top mollusk hoopsters are talented junior guards Alicia Riddle (12.9 points per game) and Shiante Reed (12.4), but the team has been outscored by a 75-54 average margin this season. Men's Basketball The Southern Oregon University men's basketball team hopes to begin the second Cascade Conference round-robin with a bang when it opens a three-game homestand Friday night against Northwest College. Although the Raiders (7-13, 3-5) start the week clinging to the eighth and final conference playoff berth, Southern is only two games back of second place in what is a tightly packed loop race. Having completed the two most rugged conference road trips of the season (to Washington state and to Eastern Oregon-Albertson), seventh-year head coach Brian McDermott is optimistic about the team's playoff chances. He hopes the first step is avenging a pair of earlier season road losses to the ninth-place Eagles (8-12, 2-6) and to second-place Evergreen State (10-11, 5-3) this weekend. The Raiders have won four of their past five games at McNeal Pavilion but dropped their most recent home outing 88-80 against Western Baptist last Tuesday. **** Former Crook County High all-star Jared Abell exploded from a December slump by averaging more points (33) than minutes played (31) in two games last week. Tuesday against Western Baptist, the 6-7 forward from Prineville came off the bench for 16 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes of game time. Five days later at Eastern, Abell shot 6-for-11 from the floor and nailed all four free throws for 17 points in 18 minutes. After scoring six points or less four times in a six-game December stretch (including a pair of goose eggs), the energized Abell is averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds so far in 2003. **** In order for Southern Oregon to maintain its grip on a conference playoff spot, it must contend with one of the most dazzling power forwards in Cascade Conference history Friday evening in Northwest's Dan Schneider. The 6-foot-7 two-time league all-star is currently seventh in the league for both scoring (19.0) and rebounding (6.9), and the Northern Arizona transfer torched the Raiders for 23 points, six rebounds, two blocks and three backboard-rattling dunks in the 89-79 Eagle win on Dec. 18. Southern, however, sliced an 18-point deficit with five minutes left to five with 33 seconds remaining before running out of time. NC's top playmaker is sophomore Nate Lindseth, who contributes a 12-point average from the point guard position and ranks in the league top-seven for both assists (4.1) and steals (2.4). Defending conference regular-season champion Evergreen State is well behind the 26-win pace of its 2001-02 dream season but not because of a lack of effort from senior center Mike Parker. The 6-6 forward is fourth in the circuit for scoring (19.5) and third for rebounds (7.4), and he led the Clams back from a 14-point second-half deficit for a 91-87 overtime win on Dec. 17 with game-highs of 34 points and 15 rebounds. 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. 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