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WEDNESDAY February 11, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels December 30, 2003 Lady Griffins break Raider home win streak By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings On the heels of two strong wins at home, the Raider women's basketball team (3-6) discovered their luck in McNeal Pavilion isn't always a sure thing on Monday night. The Raiders' Stacy Ermini and Lindsey Aitchison struggle to get possession of the ball against Westminster College on Monday night in McNeal Pavilion. The Raiders committed 25 turnovers in their first home loss in 15 games. Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings Westminster College (4-10) rolled into town from Salt Lake City for the first-ever meeting between the Lady Griffins and the Raiders, then rolled over Southern 76-51. "It doesn't mean a thing," third-year Raider head coach Kevin Wilson said. "It's another preseason game. We're still in first place in the conference." The non-conference loss was the first action the Raiders have seen since their 72-64 upset of Western Baptist on December 18. "After-holiday games are always like that," Wilson explained. "One team usually plays well and one plays stinky. We just played stinky tonight." Playing catch-up Westminster, buoyed by double-digit performances from four of five starters, never trailed in the game. The Lady Griffins opened the game with a three-point bucket from sophomore guard Emily Johnson Southern spent the remaining 39 minutes of play trying to get back into the game. "We just didn't play very hard," Wilson said. "The effort wasn't there." The Raiders battle to a single tie at 5-all four minutes into the game and closed out the first half just two points shy of the Lady Griffins at 33-31. Lacking something As evenly matched as the first half was, the second half was missing something, namely Raider points. Westminster capitalized on 15 Southern turnovers and 11 steals to out-score the home team 43-20 in the final 20 minutes of play. "We just weren't in a rhythm tonight," Wilson said. "Our energy level was down, we didn't have one person in double figures, we didn't rebound well and there were too many turnovers tonight." The Lady Griffins looked like they were poised to blow out the Raiders, as Westminster started the second half with a 17-8 run. But Southern regrouped and with just under 12 minutes left in regulation, pulled within five at 50-45. But the Raiders scored just six more points in the game, as Westminster cruised to a decisive 25-point win. If it had to happen The non-conference loss halts Southern's 14-game win streak in McNeal Pavilion, but doesn't tarnish the Raiders' 2-0 start in Cascade Conference play. "So we lose a tune-up. Big deal," Wilson said. "We lost five other tune-ups. I'd rather get that out of our system before we go play in the conference. We'll just get better, which we will, and start playing the way we used to." While four Lady Griffins tallied 13 points or more, sophomore forward Emily Brough came off the bench to lead the Raiders with nine points and seven rebounds. The Southern Virginia transfer has been sick with pneumonia, one of several Raiders fighting off illness recently. "They played harder than we did, which is disappointing," Wilson said. "But, you know, we're nursing sickness. Emily, she decided she wanted to play a little bit, so we put her in." Junior guard Camille Porter added eight points and a team high three steals for the Raiders. Sophomore guard Stacy Ermini added seven rebounds. Sophomore Westminster guard Shalee Fackrell racked up a game high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Next, the Raiders hit the road for a pair of weekend games against league foes Northwest and Evergreen. Northwest is tied with Southern and Oregon Tech atop the Cascade Conference standings, while Evergreen has yet to notch a league victory. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: A new improved archive search is coming! Look for it in mid-February! .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams