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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad February 14, 2006 Women need to score two weekend wins By Rich Rosenthal Tidings Correspondent The Southern Oregon University women’s basketball team has made great strides this season and especially in recent weeks after a slow start to Cascade Conference play, but the ninth-place Raiders (11-16, 4-12 CC) need a special weekend to crack the eight-team league playoff field. SOU’s overall victory output is up seven from last season, but the Ashland school enters what could be the final week of the 2005-06 season needing wins against seventh-place Concordia (12-15, 6-10) and third-place Corban (22-6, 12-4) at McNeal Pavilion on Friday and Saturday night to have a chance for a Feb. 21 conference tournament quarterfinal appearance. The Raiders, Cavaliers, Evergreen State (7-18, 5-11) and Northwest (10-18, 6-10) are separated by only two games for the final three playoff spots with the latter two schools traveling to first-place Warner Pacific and last-place Cascade College this weekend. Southern hopes McNeal Pavilion’s friendly confines provides a home-court advantage that has not been evident in six of eight outings this season, but don’t tell the Cavaliers and Warriors, who have a combined five wins in Ashland since the formation of the conference in 1992-93. The Raiders are coming off weekend losses at Eastern Oregon (58-42) and Albertson (67-55), and SOU is just 2-9 since a Dec. 30, but the squad had periods of coupling productive offense with excellent defense in each of the past three outings against top-tier teams. SOU cut an 11-point deficit to four with 3:11 remaining against a more athletic Eastern squad, and the team finished the Albertson fray on a 14-6 spurt. An additional source of hope was the emergence of junior post Sara Beyer, who went 9-for-13 for 22 points for the weekend. Sophomore Chelsey Zimmerman continues to be the team’s late-season headliner. The New Mexico Highlands transfer point guard is averaging almost 12 points and five assists over the last 11 games and ranks in the loop top-three for season assists (4.7) and steals (2.3). Zimmerman had 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds in SOU’s best conference win of the season: a 73-53 rout of Concordia in Portland on Dec. 3, but she had only six points along with seven turnovers in a 69-61 setback to Corban the previous evening. Junior Andi Peterson led the Raiders with 18 and 19 points, respectively, in the previous encounters with CU and CC. The Cavaliers rebounded from a six-game slide and resuscitated playoff hopes by beating Northwest and Cascade College in recent days. Its most prolific player is forward Darcy Madison, who ranks 15th in the league for scoring (11.9). Corban, the preseason conference favorite, blew its chance for a regular-season championship with a shocking 52-45 loss at Evergreen State on Feb. 4, but the Warriors have the league’s best record thanks to the 1-2 punch of guard Jessi Shaumburg (12.1 points/game) and forward Jessica Steigleman (11.9). Women’s Tennis Having bounced three NCAA Div. II Northwest Conference teams with ease on a spectacular season-opening road trip to the Willamette Valley, the SOU tennis team engages the first of two home opponents this week. The Raiders (3-0) could equal their best start since 2002 by swatting Shasta College at the McNeal Hall Courts at 1 p.m. Thursday. A successful outcome would also extend the school’s all-time record against the Redding, Calif. team to 19-0 dating back to 1969. A Feb. 25 showdown against perennial powerhouse Linfield College will be the true litmus test, but Southern might have its best tennis team in recent history based on last weekend’s dominating efforts. The squad avenged a pair of 2005 setbacks to Willamette with an 8-1 pasting of the young Bearcat team Friday evening in Salem. SOU went on to blank Pacific (Saturday in Forest Grove) and Lewis & Clark (Sunday in Portland). The 27-1 intercollegiate performance was highlighted by near-perfect No. 1 and 2 singles efforts from junior ace Annie Chaney and freshman phenom Katie Ross, the No. 2 draw. Chaney is now 18-1 over the past two seasons in singles action and is 54-10 as a Raider. Complete individual records are posted at http://www.sou.edu/athletics/tnsked2006.htm. Softball Springtime is still a month away, but SOU’s Women of Spring kick off the 2006 fastpitch softball season with a busy weekend in two Rogue Valley locales. The Raiders receive their first inter-squad action of the calendar year Saturday at University Field against an SOU Alumni team containing a slew of Cascade Conference and NAIA regional all-stars, including honorable mention All-American pitcher and record-setter Brandi Brown. The three-time defending conference champions open a 39-game regular-season slate with an 11 a.m. non-league doubleheader against Lewis & Clark College on the Grants Pass High School softball field. The 2006 campaign is a special bonus year at the Raider helm for longtime prep guru Larry Binney, who originally planned to retire after 79 wins over two collegiate seasons in Ashland and make way for new coach Shawna Feldt last spring. Feldt, however, opted to become Oregon State’s lead assistant last June, and Binney agreed to delay his retirement plans and return for a third year in order to avert a crisis for the Raider softball program. Another search for Binney’s replacement will take place as the season progresses. Southern Oregon graduated three of region’s best players (all-stars Kara Ray, Miranda Gillaspie and Amy Williams) from last year’s 39-19 squad that defeated both the eventual NAIA champion (Simon Fraser) and the national runner-up (Cal Baptist). The Raiders return 10 letterwinners and six regular starters from a team that outdistanced rivals Oregon Tech and Eastern Oregon by three games in the six-team league title chase. Ranked 23rd in the NAIA preseason poll, SOU is bolstered by the return of four key seniors: regional all-star centerfielder Leann Foster, infielder Megan Rock, single-season home run record-holder Tanisha Burch and staff ERA leader Julianne Cree. Southern picked up a blue-chip recruit in attracting three-time all-state outfielder/second baseman and career .400 hitter Deni Rowley from North Medford High. Pitching is the hallmark of any good collegiate softball program, and SOU appears to be in good hands with Cree, sophomore Alicia Caudill and freshman Cat Cousins. Cree won nine games last year with a 1.40 ERA and limited opponents to a .191 batting average thanks in part to 97 strikeouts in 115 innings. Caudill (7-5, 2.47) has all-star stuff, and Cousins, who prepped in Fresno, Calif., will help the team replace Gillaspie’s 23-win output as a possible No. 2 pitcher. Sunday’s contests are the first with Lewis & Clark since 1981 in a series that SOU leads 7-3 dating back to 1977. The Pioneers suffered through a disastrous 2-34 2005 season and finished on a 25-game slide, but the Portland school returns most of its top players. L&C opened the year last week with 7-3 and 4-2 setbacks against Concordia in Portland. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.