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Raiders pick up key victory over Concordia By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Controversy, drama, 169 total points and a key victory for the Southern Oregon women's basketball team. The announced 500 fans in attendance at Saturday night's SOU-Concordia tilt got more for their money than President Bush's campaign contributors. Well, that's debatable. Indisputable is the fact that for the second consecutive game, junior point guard Sara Marks established a new career-high in her short term as a Raider, striking for 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting to lead SOU to a 90-79 victory over the preseason Cascade Conference favorite. In a tug-of-war affair, the Raiders (8-8 overall, 4-2 Cascade) made the decisive yank with a 19-8 run in the final six minutes, breaking the game's 10th and final tie at 71-all to hand the 19th-ranked Cavaliers (12-7, 4-2) their second straight conference loss. "Although we've had some good wins this year, that has to be the biggest win because they were ranked 19th in the country, because it's a conference game and because it's at home," said first-year SOU head coach Kevin Wilson, his team trailing only Eastern Oregon and Albertson in the conference standings. The Raiders began with a bang, streaking to leads of 9-0 and 15-4 in the opening minutes. But Concordia mounted a 25-12 charge to take a 29-27 edge on senior guard Courtney Bridges' 3-pointer inside the last five minutes of the first half. All-American senior guard Niecee Madrigal put the Cavs up 38-34 with a 3-pointer, her lone basket of the first half, at about the one-minute mark. SOU answered with field goals from junior posts Jaime Stanford and Ashley Nunley to forge a 38-all deadlock at the break. Play was delayed twice in the opening 20 minutes for scorer's table debates, and Wilson and Concordia counterpart Miriam Jenkins grew hot under the collar over scoreboard deficiencies - real or imagined - on at least a couple of other occasions. Nonetheless, both teams started the second half tied and back at square one. Marks, a first-year transfer from Eastern Utah Junior College who was recruited by Wilson during his previous tenure at Colorado Northwestern Community College, scored the first four points of the final 20 minutes to give the Raiders a 42-38 edge. The teams then exchanged the lead eight times and tied on seven occasions during the bulk of the second half. SOU's largest deficit was 69-64 following a 9-0 Concordia run capped by the third of Madrigal's four 3-pointers in the second half. Raiders junior forward Kara Magee-Arick tallied five straight points to knot the score again. After junior forward Adrienne Dolezal's two free throws pushed SOU in front and junior center Amanda Tweedy's bucket earned the Cavs a final deadlock, a Dolezal free throw and four straight points from Marks put the Raiders on top for good at 76-71. Concordia pulled within 76-73 but then crept no closer than 82-79 during the last two minutes. "We didn't take advantage of turnovers, and we turned the ball over way too much," said Cavs first-year head coach Jenkins, whose squad committed 25 turnovers compared to SOU's 20. "Both teams wanted to push it. I think the thing, too, that hurt us a lot is we didn't get as many opportunities inside as we normally do." In addition to Marks' heroics, the Raiders were boosted by 13 points and five rebounds from senior forward Melissa Core, 11 points and seven rebounds from Stanford and off-the-bench performances of 12 points from Magee-Arick and 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds from junior guard Kelly Dexter. "I'm really happy with our bench play," Wilson said. "It doesn't really matter to these women who starts and who finishes. The entire team is into the game at once, and that's what's neat. We work together as a team." As for Marks, who has erupted for 53 combined points in consecutive SOU victories, Wilson called her stellar play "infectious" to her SOU teammates. Marks, who stands 5-foot-5 but still grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and accumulated four assists and three steals, said "it's all about having fun." "Run and gun and have fun," said the native of Hunter, Utah. "We outhustled them and got them tired instead of us getting tired." Concordia didn't have much fun trying to guard Marks. "She's really tough," said Jenkins, who got performances of 15 points and seven assists from Madrigal, 14 points from senior guard Angela Rosales and 12 points and eight rebounds from junior forward Heather Seyfert. "I put three different defenders on (Marks), and none of them could guard her." Wilson said the Raiders' decisive charge during the final six minutes was a result of SOU's devotion to conditioning. "I said that we would be the most in-shape team in our conference, and I think it's starting to pay off," Wilson said. "(Pushing the ball) is what we want to do. And it's also fun for everybody - fun for the team, for the fans and everybody else. It's a fun brand of basketball." The Raiders enjoyed a considerable advantage at the free-throw line - a fact not overlooked by Jenkins - and made 21-of-29 attempts. The Cavs were 8-for-12 from the line. Both teams corralled 41 rebounds, and Concordia swiped 16 steals to SOU's 15. Raider fans hope for more entertainment Thursday, when SOU plays host to Western Baptist at 7:30 p.m. CONCORDIA (12-7, 4-2) Johnson 4-7 2-2 11, Madrigal 5-12 0-0 15, Bridges 3-7 0-0 7, Seyfert 6-10 0-1 12, Tweedy 5-9 0-0 10, Gago 2-9 4-7 8, Beeler 1-4 0-0 2, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Rosales 5-12 2-2 14, Capri 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-70 8-12 79. SOUTHERN OREGON (8-8, 4-2) Hilaire 1-6 0-0 3, Core 2-8 8-9 13, Stanford 5-7 1-2 11, Nunley 4-8 0-1 8, Marks 12-19 3-6 28, Magee-Arick 4-7 2-2 12, Dexter 3-7 4-5 10, Tangedahl 1-3 0-0 2, Dolezal 0-2 3-4 3, Beers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-67 21-29 90. Halftime-SOU 38, Concordia 38. 3-point goals-Concordia 9-27 (Johnson 1-3, Madrigal 5-9, Bridges 1-4, Gago 0-3, Beeler 0-1, Rosales 2-7), SOU 5-19 (Hilaire 1-2, Core 1-4, Marks 1-5, Magee-Arick 2-5, Dexter 0-2, Dolezal 0-1). Rebounds-Concordia 41 (Tweedy 10), SOU 41 (Marks 8). Assists-Concordia 23 (Madrigal 7), SOU 22 (Dexter 7). Fouled out-Stanford. Total fouls-Concordia 21, SOU 11. A-500. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.