CASCADE CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
8:30 p.m. Tuesday – Warner Pacific (7) at #10 SOU (2) – Live Stream | Live Stats
Evergreen (8) at #6 Eastern Oregon (1)
Corban (6) at #14 Northwest Christian (3)
College of Idaho (5) at Oregon Tech (4)

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon's place in the NAIA Division II Tournament looks secure for the fourth year in a row after another distinguished regular season, but the 10th-ranked Raiders still have plenty to play for until then in the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank.

The Raiders are 25-3 overall and finished 17-3 in conference play to earn the No. 2 seed in the eight-team CCC tournament. They'll open with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 seed Warner Pacific (12-18, 8-12), which fought its way into the postseason by winning twice on the road over the weekend to end a six-game skid and force a three-way tie for seventh in the standings. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mountain Avenue Gym.

Playoff Picture: The CCC gets two automatic bids to the 32-team national tournament. The first was claimed by regular-season champion Eastern Oregon, and the second will go to the tourney champ – unless EOU claims that title, too, in which case it would go to SOU by virtue of owning the No. 2 seed. The national tournament will be held March 7-13 in Sioux City, Iowa, and the field will be announced Feb. 28. Due to their ranking, the Raiders are in position to at least receive an at-large berth. A new poll will be released Tuesday, and the deciding poll will be released the same day the field is revealed.  

The CCC tournament is not bracketed, meaning the lowest remaining seed will be matched up with the highest remaining seed in the next round. If the Raiders defeat Warner Pacific, they'll host a semifinal at 8:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game, to be hosted by the top remaining seed, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday and will be broadcast live on Root Sports Northwest.

Tournament History: Since the tournament started in 1995, the Raiders have won it six times: in 1998, '99, 2002, '03, '08 and '16. SOU defeated Oregon Tech for the 2016 title, but Eastern Oregon knocked off the Raiders in last year's final, 74-69, after the teams finished as co-champions in the regular season. The Raiders have qualified for 12 consecutive CCC tournaments and won five straight quarterfinal games. They're also 3-0 against Warner Pacific, all in quarterfinals, though they haven't met the Knights in the postseason since 2013.

Head-to-Head: SOU has won 11 straight against the Knights and leads the all-time series, 37-16. This season's first matchup, on Dec. 29 in Ashland, was a 95-68 decision in which the Raiders had a 26-4 advantage in fast-break points, hit 10 3-pointers and were led in scoring by Ariel Augustine (18) and Sophia Altemus (14). On Jan. 27 in Portland, SOU won 84-55 by forcing 31 turnovers and getting hot again beyond the arc with 12 triples. Augustine had her first double-double and Remi Mejia scored 19in the game.

Briefly:
– A No. 1 seed has never lost in the quarterfinals and a No. 2 seed hasn't lost in the first round since the 2009-10 season, when SOU pulled off an upset at Warner Pacific. The top seed, however, has only captured two of the last six titles.
– SOU will call Mountain Avenue Gym home for the last time in the tournament before finally moving in to the all-new Lithia Motors Pavilion next season. Since settling in at the Ashland High facility, the Raiders have gone 34-3 at home.
– Among conference leaders, Remi Mejia ended CCC play second in points (17.9), second in steals (3.1), 13th in assists (3.1), second in 3-pointers per game (3.4) and 15th in offensive rebounds (2.1). She's seven points away from becoming the 15th Raider ever to score 500 in a season, and with 86 3-pointers she needs 14 more to match the single-season SOU record established by Ashley Claussen two years ago.
– Toria Bradford eclipsed 300 assists for her career last weekend, becoming the 10th Raider ever to do so. In CCC play, she was 18th in points (11.6), fifth in assists (4.2), sixth in steals (2.4) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2-to-1).
– The Raiders are averaging 74 field-goal attempts per game. Their opponents are averaging 52.

About Warner Pacific:
– The Knights are back in the tournament after a one-year absence. They're seeking their first postseason win since 2012, and their first road win since '09.
– In conference play, they shot 38 percent, gave up a 42-percent clip and committed 19 turnovers, the second-most in the circuit. However, they also forced 20 turnovers per game – No. 2 in the conference behind SOU's 25.
– Sophomore guard Darby Pink leads a balanced scoring attack at 10.3 points with 54 3-pointers. Maryah Tipping, a junior forward, averages 6.4 points but totaled 31 and 11 rebounds to help spark last weekend's wins at Northwest and Evergreen.