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Early deficit dooms SOU women ARCATA, Calif. -- Southern Oregon coach Shirley Huyett knew her women's basketball team was bound to lose a game -- she was just hoping it wouldn't happen for a while longer. The third-ranked Raiders (5-1) showed they can compete with just about anyone Friday, however, as the NAIA squad struggled and still barely fell short to NCAA Division II foe Sonoma State, 69-66. The loss snapped SOU's 12-game regular season winning streak, and was only the fifth loss in the Raiders' last 38 games. The 17th-ranked Cossacks took advantage of a lackluster first-half effort by SOU to take a commanding 33-19 lead at halftime, only to have the Raiders roar back in the second half. SOU cut its deficit to 57-55 with 4:18 to play, and the two teams traded baskets from that point on until a 3-pointer by Nada Janackovic made the score 67-66 with one second to play. Forced to foul on the ensuing inbounds play, the Raiders watched helplessly as Yvonne Daily iced the victory for Sonoma State with two free throws. Senior Denise Berry scored 19 points to lead the Raiders, with 17 of those coming in an aggressive second-half surge by SOU. Huyett said that surge was just a little too late, however. "We just got ourselves in too big of a hole," the coach said. "We cannot afford to get that far behind against a team as good as Sonoma State. "We played terrible in the first half and we played great in the second half. We just fell a little bit short." Janackovic chipped in 16 points and Lindsay Taylor added nine for the Raiders, who face Holy Names tonight to cap the Humboldt State Classic. Holy Names topped the host team 71-58 in Friday's other contest. Despite the disappointing loss, Huyett said her team should be ready to start another streak tonight. "It's real tough to go through a season undefeated," she said. "It's just one game. We still have a lot of goals that we can accomplish." Poor shooting from the floor (22 percent) and free throw line (55) hurt SOU's chances in the first half against the Cossacks. SOU rallied with a 60 percent effort from the floor in the second half, including a 43-percent clip from behind the 3-point arc. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,