The lights are on and the camera branded with a KDRV Channel 12 logo is pointed at a 6-foot-2 beauty with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.

Curious onlookers might guess she's about to grab a microphone and start reporting, but she is the story. She's Jacki Speers, and the scene at McNeal Pavilion on Wednesday stands in stark contrast to the junior forward's usual antics here. She may be an angel off the court, but on it she's a hard-nosed, teeth-gnashing, elbow-throwing rebounding powerhouse.

"I think a lot of it is just her going out and being a force and developing first a block-out technique that can allow her to get those defensive rebounds," SOU head coach Lynn Kennedy said. "And her energy and enthusiasm for going out and getting boards and finishing, that allows her to get a lot of offensive boards as well."

And she's doing so in record numbers.

Fresh off Tuesday's 16-point, 11-rebound effort against Oregon Tech, Speer ranks third on SOU's all-time career rebounding list with 853 boards and eighth in scoring with 1,109 points. She has 17 double-doubles this season and is averaging 16 points and 10.9 rebounds. Only a major setback will prevent her from becoming just the third Raider to average a double-double.

"I feel like I've played really well this season," Speer said. "Of course I want to play better — I miss free throws when I shouldn't miss free throws. I just want to elevate my game. I never want to stop learning. That's what's great about this program. Coach [Kennedy] will never put a limit on my potential. He's just going to continue help me to grow and be the best that I can be in my four years here."

The big numbers have hardly been a shocker to the Raiders, or the rest of the Cascade Conference for that matter. The league's coaches named Speer, a business major, the CCC preseason player of the year back in October.

You wouldn't know Speer is a walking double-double by asking her about it, however. Humble and sincere, Speer was shocked by the news that she was voted the preseason player of the year. And how did she find out? Her mother told her.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, where did this come from?'" Speer said of hearing the news. "At the beginning of the season, that was definitely a huge pressure. When I found out I was like, 'Dang, I don't want to disappoint anybody.' But when I started practicing, when I started getting into the season a little bit more it kind of just went off my mind and I was just focused on playing my game and not worrying about what everyone else thinks about me."

She started off relatively slow, falling short of the 10-rebound mark in SOU's first five games. But since, Speer has notched double-digit rebound totals in 18 of the Raiders' 22 games including a pair of 20-rebound efforts, and has led the team in scoring 11 times.

Speer's ability to dominate inside forced teams to game plan against from almost the moment she arrived in Ashland three years ago. Speer countered by rounding out her game.

"She's worked out the last couple summers here in Ashland and the things that we've been working on is creating an outside game for her — she's done that this year — as well as her defensive work, and she's really improved defensively," Kennedy said. "I think both of those things have really improved her inside game as well. She's just become a different player at a different level. Her goal is to be one of the top players in the nation and I don't see why she can't see that."

Speer's monster season has helped SOU (22-4, 14-3 Cascade) overcome a bad start to league play. Now, thanks to Tuesday's dramatic comeback from a 15-point deficit with five minutes to go, the Raiders are still harboring hopes, however faint, of a second straight league championship.

With three games left on their regular season schedule, the streaking Raiders — they've won 11 straight — trail first-place Concordia (22-2, 15-1) by 1 1/2; games and second-place College of Idaho (23-3, 14-2) by a half-game. Southern, which hosts Northwest Christian on Friday, already has clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the Cascade Conference playoffs.

"We're a good team," Speer said. "We've had some struggles this year, lost some games that we shouldn't have. It's just been a grind. We haven't had it easy. But I think in the long run that's going to help us, because if we make it back to nationals this year we're just going to have so much more close-game experience and we won't get flustered.

"The sky's the limit for this team. I think we have all the talent in the world this year and the determination and the will power. I think we can go all the way and that's our goal."

Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 x 224 or joe.zavala@dailytidings.com