Lady Owls Come Up Just Short in Rivalry Clash to Southern Oregon
Women's Basketball
February 08, 2022
KLAMATH FALLS, OR. — The Oregon Tech Lady Owls (17-8, 10-8) never gave up, coming back from down 13 in the 4th quarter to force OT, but eventually fell just short. Tech lost a 67-71 overtime game to Southern Oregon (22-4, 15-3) on Tuesday, moving their record in overtime games this season to 0-3.
Following the defeat, HC Scott Meredith said: "It was another exciting Pink Out Night and, while really disappointed with the loss, I'm proud of our team and the way they competed as the game went on. We made a couple of hard-fought comebacks and executed again in crunch time with a sideline inbound play to push the game into overtime, but SOU made the plays they needed down the stretch. We proved once again we can compete with anyone and look forward to this weekends games. "
(RV) Southern Oregon 71 Oregon Tech 67 (OT)
Looking to grab a big victory on Tuesday over Southern Oregon, Tech fell just short in the rivalry clash.
Facing the neighbors to the west, Tech came out flat, allowing Southern Oregon to jump out to a 7-0 lead.
After shaking off the nerves, the Lady Owls closed the first quarter on a 14-7 run, highlighted by a strong defensive display that held the Raiders to just 30% shooting from the floor.
Tech outshot the Raiders at a 35% clip, but eight trips to the free-throw line kept Southern Oregon ahead until the Lady Owls tied it at the horn to end the period.
After a highly competitive first quarter, Tech struggled to score in the second, shooting just 3-of-14 from the field.
While the offense cooled down, the Raiders capitalized, shooting 41% to take a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
At the break, Olivia Sprague led all scorers with seven points and led the Owls in rebounding with four.
In the second half, Tech switched to a zone defense, which has proved to benefit them this season.
With the change in scheme, the Lady Owls initially flustered Southern, finding a way to cut their deficit to three.
But eventually, the Lady Raiders figured it out, tightening their defense and hitting the three to pull away from Tech.
After the Lady Owls cut it to three with 8:37 to play in the 3rd, SOU finished the period on a 20-10 run.
However, the young Lady Owls wouldn't back down, scoring six straight points to start the 4th.
With 7:38 to play, Abby Kreiser cut through the lane and finished inside as Tech rapidly were back within five.
Southern would quickly jump back up by nine, but Tech remained persistent.
The Lady Owls used the remainder of the period to claw their way back.
With just seven seconds left on the clock, Shelby Blodgett scored inside to tie the game on what looked to be a sure and-1. As Blodgett hit the deck after being undercut, the whistle wasn't blown, eliminating Tech's opportunity to win in regulation.
Tech battened down the hatches, getting one last stop resulting in OT.
In OT, it was SOU who jumped out in front and never looked back as OIT went scoreless for the first three minutes of overtime.
In a game where Tech never led, they got just about as close as humanly possible to stealing one late from their arch-rivals.
The loss for Tech turns their focus to the remainder of the conference slate before they attempt to make a run in the conference tournament.
The Lady Owls had three players in double figures on Tuesday:
Shelby Blodgett: 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting with ten rebounds (double-double)
Olivia Sprague: 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds
Melissa Lee: 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting
Southern Oregon University was led by Dominique Harding, who scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
The Lady Raiders also got a double-double out of Kami Walk, who scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Tech will return to action this weekend when they battle Multnomah (5-10, 5-13) on Friday and Warner-Pacific (12-11, 10-8) on Saturday in a fight for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament.
