by SAN JOSE, Calif. — Southern Oregon nearly pulled off a shocker Wednesday night against NCAA Division I opponent San Jose State, but a buzzer-beater in overtime by Cydni Lewis enabled the Spartans to avoid the upset and win 89-87 at The Event Center.
The game was an exhibition for the Raiders and a counter for the Spartans, who improved to 3-8 going into their Mountain West Conference schedule.
Daranda Hinkey (Paiute/Shoshone Fort McDermitt) totaled 22 points thanks to 5-of-10 3-point accuracy off the bench and Remi Mejia scored 22 with seven steals, helping the Raiders erase what had been an 18-point deficit a minute into the third quarter.
The Raiders tied it with five minutes left in the fourth when Mejia scored inside, but they were down 77-71 with 2:18 remaining after Megan Anderson’s triple. A Casey Williams jumper and a pair of Mejia free throws later cut the lead to two, and Destinee Jones muscled up to score inside with 22 seconds left to make it 79-79. Regulation ended with Anderson rimming out a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
In overtime, Ariel Augustine‘s mid-range make tied the score at 87-87 and a defensive stop followed to give SOU possession with 31.5 seconds left, but Lewis blocked Toria Bradford‘s 3-point try to force a shot-clock violation.
After the Spartans called timeout to advance the ball past halfcourt, Fierne’a Hafoka lobbed from in front of the SJSU to the other side of the basket, and Lewis was there to put a short, contested shot off the backboard and in.
The Spartans were led by Myzhanique Ladd’s 18 points and eight rebounds, but they committed 40 turnovers and allowed SOU to compile a 22-14 advantage on the offensive glass. The result was a huge disparity in field-goal attempts: SOU went 31-of-95 and SJSU went 32-of-66.
Bradford pitched in 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Augustine recorded 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Raiders (11-1 overall, 3-1 Cascade Conference) will return to CCC play on Dec. 29 and 30 against Warner Pacific and Multnomah at Mountain Avenue Gym. Both games tip off at 5:30 p.m.
