Friday, 5:30 p.m. - Corban at #13 SOU - Live Stats - Live Video
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. - Northwest Christian at #13 SOU - Live Stats - Live Video

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team has been unbeatable at home recently, winning all eight games at Riehm Arena this season and 11 straight dating back to last season.

If the 13th-ranked Raiders (17-3 overall, 8-3 Cascade Conference) can keep it that way, their outlook of returning to the NAIA tournament for the first time since 2009 will remain favorable. With five of seven regular-seasons contests remaining to be played on their court, they'll start the home stretch this weekend with games Friday against Corban (14-9, 8-3) and Saturday against Northwest Christian (8-11, 4-7).

Both are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.

Last Friday, SOU used a 20-4 spurt with 11 minutes left to break away from a tie game at College of Idaho and win in Caldwell for the first time in six years, 79-66. On Saturday, the Raiders dropped a 77-65 overtime battle at Eastern Oregon as the Mountaineers took a one-game lead in first place.

"That's a tough trip, and to be able to go into that environment Friday and withstand (C of I's) second-half surge says a lot about how far this team has come," SOU coach Lynn Kennedy said. "The next night we came back (from 13 points behind) and had some opportunities to win, but that's another difficult place to play and it just didn't go our way."

SOU's three road losses have all been tight – 67-66 at Concordia, 95-92 at Northwest Christian and in OT at EOU.

It's been a different story in Ashland, where the Raiders are winning by an average margin of 25.3 points, scoring an average of 95.4 points and shooting 53 percent.

"We're just looking for some consistency right now," Kennedy said. "If we're going to make a run, that's going to be the key."

The Raiders, who dropped just one spot in the NAIA Division II rankings following their loss, will get chances to avenge their 82-79 home loss to Corban last season and the Jan. 2 setback against NCU in Eugene.

Kennedy and the Raider Mount Rushmore: With two wins this weekend, Lynn Kennedy would become the second head coach in SOU history with 200 wins at the school. Shirley Huyett, who went 220-111 in 11 seasons, is the other. Al Akins is third on the list with 56 wins. Kennedy is 198-103 in his 10th year and is closing in on his sixth 20-win season during that span. Before his arrival, SOU had six 20-win seasons combined since beginning competition in 1973, with four of them credited to Huyett.

Quick hits:

- Alexi Smith (Bakersfield, Calif./Stockdale) enters the weekend as SOU's leading scorer in conference play at 14.9 points per game. She ranks third in the CCC in that category, seventh in rebounding (7.2) and second in field-goal percentage (51.7) behind teammate Courtney West (Sydney, Australia/Port Hacking)'s 60.8-percent clip.

- Ashley Claussen (Scotts Valley, Calif./Santa Cruz) is creeping up on Smith at 13.8 points per game in CCC action. In her last four games Claussen is averaging 19.2 points and 7.2 assists, sinking four 3-pointers in each, and prior to that stretch she averaged 8.3 points and 4.6 assists overall. Her 5.8 assists per game top the CCC.

- Although SOU shot its two lowest percentages last weekend since early December (40.6, 40.7), the Raiders have dipped below 40 percent just once this season while six teams in the conference are right at or below 40 overall. SOU leads the league in shooting percentage (46.1) and free-throw percentage (74.1) and is second from 3-point range (36.2).

- All five SOU starters are averaging in double figures with Autumn Durand (Onalaska, Wash./Onalaska) (11.9 points), Carly Meister (Elma, Wash./Elma) (11.4) and Kristen Schoenherr (Rainier, Wash./Rainier) (11.3) rounding out the lineup. C of I is the only other team with three starters putting up more than 10 points.

- Meister collected a combined 21 rebounds in SOU's last two games, going over 16 on back-to-back nights for the first time since last season. She's fifth in the CCC at 7.5 per game.

About Corban: CCC preseason player of the year Tara Van Weerdhuizen leads the Warriors, who have gone 6-1 since being swept at home by SOU (68-57) and Oregon Tech (54-49). The 6-foot-2 senior post is up to 13 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game, and is complemented by a steady backcourt of Jade Lowery (13.2 points. 3.4 assists) and Sadie Pilgrim (9.2 points, 44-for-99 from 3). Tied with SOU in second place, Corban is especially effective on the defensive end, where it leads the league in opponents' shooting percentage (34.2) and points allowed (57.8).

"They're playing really well, and they're so balanced," Kennedy said. "They have a lot of players who just fit nicely on their team."

SOU has won four of the last five in the series and leads 35-26 all time.

About Northwest Christian: The Beacons have been consistently unpredictable, losing seven conference games by an average of 16 points but knocking off SOU and Eastern Oregon (70-57). They haven't won consecutive games since their first two this season and are coming off an 84-62 win over last-place Northwest. Melyssa Weber leads the way at 10.2 points and 4.1 rebounds, while Chandler Gabrio puts up 9.1 points and 5.7 boards. Andrea Gloss had the hot hand with 22 points against SOU, and is one of three Beacons averaging between eight and nine points.

"They've had an interesting year, but they're going to be well-coached and you have to be prepared for them," Kennedy said. "They have some good shooters and some inside presences, so anything can happen."

SOU leads the all-time series, 13-3.