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Raider women blast past Concordia ASHLAND -- Concordia University shot better than 53 percent from the field and outrebounded Southern Oregon in women's basketball Thursday at McNeal Pavilion. But the NAIA No. 3-ranked Raiders still emerged with a 71-53 Cascade Conference victory. "We really stood tough when we needed to," Southern Oregon coach Shirley Huyett said. "Down the stretch we played very tough defense and did the things we had to do the last seven minutes of the game to take control." The Raiders (17-3, 4-1 Cascade) went out to a big first-half lead, but squandered all but three of a 17-point margin with eight minutes to go in the game. Southern Oregon went nine minutes without a field goal early in the second half, allowing the Cavaliers to pull to within 52-49 on Renee Kesting's jumper. Then SOU went on a 16-0 run over a 3-minute span to again put itself in a commanding position. "Lindsey Taylor and Ali Richards really stepped up defensively," said Huyett. "We didn't give them very many easy shots and everyone out there for us got into the scoring act." Even though the Raiders shot less than 27 percent from the field in the second half, their 16-of-19 shooting from the line made the difference. In the opening half, Southern Oregon blistered Concordia's zone from the outside. The Raiders connected on 7-of-14 from 3-point distance and forced 18 turnovers to take a 38-21 lead at the break. SOU senior All-American forward Nada Janackovic notched a game-high 21 points, while Taylor added 19, including six during the Raider second-half game-winning surge. Concordia, winless in its past 11 trips to Ashland, was paced by Kesting's 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Souther Oregon, winners of four straight and 36 of its last 38 home games, completes a four-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Western Baptist. CONCORDIA (10-12, 2-3) Peterson 5-8 2-6 13, Benson 4-9 0-0 8, Haynes 2-3 2-4 6, Hopkins 2-3 0-2 4, Kesting 9-15 1-1 19, Whaley 0-0 0-0 0, McDonald 1-5 0-0 3. Totals: 23-43 5-13 53. NO. 3 SOUTHERN OREGON (17-3, 4-1) Janckovic 5-19 9-10 21, Berry 3-8 4-6 10, Taylor 6-11 5-5 19, Merritt 0-1 0-0 0, Richards 0-4 1-2 1, Spaulding 1-4 0-0 3, Mohan 3-5 2-2 9, England 1-3 0-0 3, Fisher 1-1 0-0 2, Curran 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 21-59 21-25 71. Halftime --Concordia 21, S. Oregon 38. 3-point goals-- Concordia 2-6 (Peterson 1-2, McDonald 1-4), S. Oregon 8-17 (Janckovic 2-3, Taylor 2-3, Spaulding 1-4, Mohan 1-2, Curran 1-2, Richards 0-1, England 1-2). Fouled out--Haynes. Rebounds--Concordia 34 (Haynes, Kesting 9), S. Oregon 32 (Berry 8). Assists--Concordia 15 (Haynes 5), S. Oregon 19 (Richards 11). Total fouls--Concordia 18, S. Oregon 15. A -- 400. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford,