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SOU women win sixth straight By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune ASHLAND - It's not how you start, it's how you finish. The Southern Oregon women's basketball team is taking that motto to heart, both individually and collectively. A 90-81 victory over 13-ranked Eastern Oregon on Thursday night marked the Raiders' sixth straight win and eighth in nine outings. SOU (14-9, 10-3 Cascade Conference) is one game back of both EOU and Western Baptist in the conference standings with three regular-season games remaining. After starting 2-2 in Cascade play, the Raiders have become the conference's hottest team at precisely the right time of the season, in first-year head coach Kevin Wilson's mind. "That's huge," Wilson said of the latest victory. "We're playing as a team and buying into the system." Junior point guard Sara Marks paced SOU in scoring for the 15th time this season, scorching the Mountaineers (18-3, 11-2) for 28 points - including 16 in the first 9 minutes, 25 seconds of the second half to help break a tight game wide open. Junior post Kara Magee-Arick, the Raiders' first reserve off the bench, continued her late-season surge with 18 points, dropping five of SOU's 10 3-pointers. Senior forward Melissa Core scored 15 points and junior guard Kelly Dexter, another standout non-starter, contributed 14 points and seven rebounds as the Raiders handed EOU its 13th straight loss at McNeal Pavilion. In an 88-82 loss to the Mountaineers in Pendleton on Jan. 5, SOU shot an icy 36.7 percent from the field and managed to make just 8 of 34 3-point attempts. This time, the Raiders made 10 3s in 22 tries and shot 45.5 percent from the field overall. "There, we just weren't making 'em," said the 6-foot-2 Magee-Arick, who graduated from Lincoln High in Portland. "Now, we're shooting well and playing good defense. ... We're really coming together as a team." In second-year EOU head coach Anji Weissenfluh's estimation, the Mountaineers' defense - or lack thereof - was partly to blame. "They shot the ball well, and we just didn't play very good defense," said Wiessenfluh, whose team also had four players score in double figures, led by sophomore guard Jamie Jo Cant's 18 points. "But if you look at the history, we always get pounded down here. There's a definite home-court advantage at Southern Oregon, just like there's a home-court advantage in Pendleton for us." The first half went back-and-forth, with the Raiders taking a 46-40 halftime edge on the strength of a 10-3 closing run. SOU never trailed following the break, busting a 53-50 game ajar with a 14-4 streak that included seven points from Marks. The Mountaineers crept no closer than seven the rest of the way. "She takes control when she wants to," Wilson said of his star from Salt Lake City, who is making a case for Cascade most-valuable-player honors with a team-best scoring average of 16.8 points per game. "She can take anybody in the league off the dribble." EOU's star, senior forward Brooke Sellards, was held to 17 points on 5-for-14 shooting and eight rebounds by the Raiders. In the first meeting, she exploded for 34 points. The Mountaineers got an excellent performance from their other starting post, Medford native and Crater High graduate Julie Coffin, who posted 15 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Coffin's work on the glass, which included nine offensive boards, powered EOU to a 54-38 advantage on the glass. "She really came to play," Weissenfluh said. "She's been giving us great production all season." The difference for SOU may very well have been the off-the-bench heroics of Magee-Arick and Dexter - the Raiders' second- and third-leading scorers, respectively, despite reserve roles. "They could be the best six-and-seven combo in the conference," Wilson said. "They know their roles. They know it's not about who starts, but who finishes. ... We're a team." EASTERN OREGON (81) Haddock 2-8 0-0 5, Jo Cant 7-17 2-4 18, Sellards 5-14 6-8 17, Stockman 5-13 0-0 11, Coffin 7-14 1-3 15, Kinley 2-2 4, Epeldi 3-4 0-0 6, Dianda 2-2 1-2 5, LiaBraaten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-75 10-17 81. SOUTHERN OREGON (90) Hilaire 1-7 0-0 2, Core 4-5 6-7 15, Tangedahl 0-5 0-0 0, Nunley 4-6 1-2 9, Marks 11-20 3-5 28, Magee-Arick 6-16 1-2 18, Dexter 3-4 7-10 14, Murphy 1-3 2-6 4, Beers 0-0 0-0- 0, Dolezal 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 20-32 90. Halftime-Southern Oregon 46, Eastern Oregon 40. 3-point goals-EOU 5-26 (Haddock 1-5, Jo Cant 2-7, Sellards 1-6, Stockman 1-7, Dianda 0-1, LiaBraaten 0-1), SOU 10-22 (Hilaire 0-2, Core 1-2, Marks 3-7, Magee-Arick 5-10, Dexter 1-1). Rebounds-EOU 54 (Coffin 16), SOU 38 (Nunley 7, Dexter 7). Assists-EOU 20 (Haddock 8), SOU 19 (Hilaire 5, Marks 5). Fouled out-Haddock, Coffin. Team fouls-EOU 25, SOU 18. A-500. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.