Photo by Kayla Young
Whitney Scott looks to dish the ball against two Corban College defenders during the first round of the Cascade Conference Tournament.

Senior leadership can carry a team through the post-season; the Raiders leaned on their senior guard Rhiannon Dickison to shoot them into the second round of the tournament.

The No. 22-ranked Southern Oregon Lady Raiders defeated Corban College 77-71 in the first round of the Cascade Conference Tournament, Tuesday night at McNeal.

Led by Rhiannon Dickison, who scored 18 of her 23 points in the first half, and was 4-for-5 from the 3-point line.

“She’s been playing well,” head coach Lynn Kennedy said of Dickison.

This was the third time this season the Raiders played the Warriors, in which SOU won the series 2-1.

“We know their tendencies,” said head coach Lynn Kennedy.

The Warriors jumped out to and early 4-0 lead, but the Raiders came back and control the rest of the first half and leading 37-25.

Jacki Speer and Ashley Baker both notched double-doubles for the Raiders. Speer tallied her 21st double double of the season with 13 points and 17 rebounds, while Baker finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raiders came out in the second half the way they ended the first half as the never lost the lead despite Corban shooting 43 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point line.

Corban however did battle back with about five minutes left to cut the lead to five points, but Southern put the game away after a three-pointer by Emily Brookings with four minutes left in the game, pushing the lead to 67-57.

When asked about Corban comeback, Kennedy said, “[Corban] got a couple easy shots.”

Southern Oregon improved to 25-5 on the year while Corban finishes the year with a 12-17 record. With the win the Raiders knocked Corban out of the CCC tournament while SOU moves on to the second round to face College of Idaho.