No. 2-seeded Southern Oregon advances to national quarterfinal round for the third time in program history

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Southern Oregon has grown accustomed to advancing. But merely surviving? Not so much.

In their first real test of the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship, the No. 2-seeded Raiders defeated No. 6 seed Xavier (La.), 67-60, by weathering a storm that left them down 14 points a minute into the second half Thursday at the Tyson Events Center.

After shooting 22% over the game’s first 21 minutes, they picked themselves up with a 20-2 surge fueled by a trio of Bridgette McIntyre 3-pointers. The Gold Nuggets came back to tie the score at 57-57 before Emma Schmerbach went baseline for a go-ahead jumper at the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, and SOU didn’t surrender another bucket until the game was out of reach in the final seconds.

“We just talked at halftime about playing with confidence,” SOU coach Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt said, “because we’ve been in that position before and know how to dig ourselves out of a hole.”

Now 34-0 with the team’s highest-ever win total, the Raiders have overcome double-digit deficits five times this season, though they’d collected their first five postseason wins by an average of 24 points. They’re in the national quarterfinal round for the third time in program history — and the first time since the NAIA’s two divisions merged — set for a date with top-seeded Bethel (Tenn.) at 11 a.m. PDT Saturday.

“We responded so well,” Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. “Came out confident, came out together, and just knew we weren’t going to lose.”

Senior forward Morgan Baird, who logged a game-high 23 points, kept the Raiders within striking distance by accounting for 13 of their 22 in the first half. A pinpoint pass from Meghan McIntyre led to the first 3-pointer for her sister, Bridgette, seconds before the break, cutting SOU’s deficit to 10.

It was 38-25 when Bridgette McIntyre’s 26-footer started the game-swinging rally with 8:11 remaining in the third. She gave the Raiders their first lead at 41-40 with a midrange jumper five minutes later. On their next possession, she caught the ball in transition and pulled up a few feet behind the 3-point line, a hand in her face, for another dagger that kept momentum squarely in SOU’s corner.

“I think she just got mad,” Kloppenburg-Pruitt said of McIntyre. “Things weren’t going her way, but she’s such a competitor. Her coming out of the gate the way she did was a huge confidence booster.”

McIntyre finished with 14 points, shooting 4-of-7 beyond the arc, as did Schmerbach. While the Gold Nuggets erased an eight-point deficit of their own, Schmerbach dropped in three of her four buckets in the fourth quarter — including the go-ahead shot and a second-chance layup that made it 63-58 with 1:51 left.

Perfect trips to the free-throw line for Baird and Schmerbach then put Xavier away. The Gold Nuggets endured a four-minute scoring drought in the fourth after making only one shot over an eight-minute span during SOU’s third-quarter blitz.

Meghan McIntyre ended up with eight points and two assists. Sierra Scheppele pitched in a pair of 3-pointers and two steals off the bench.

Joy Campbell, Janiya Reed and Patricia Sosa Lora scored 11 apiece for the Gold Nuggets. The rest of their roster shot 13-of-43 combined.

SOU will turn its attention to Bethel, which was a controversial pick to receive the Cramer Quadrant of the bracket’s top seed after finishing No. 16 in the final NAIA Top 25. The Wildcats got through the Round of 16 against Hastings (Neb.), 78-70, in what was a one-possession game with five minutes left.

“They’re tough,” Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. “Maybe not quite as deep, but very skilled out of a really good conference. We have to come out focused and hope that all the jitters are out.”