5:30 p.m. Tuesday – SOU (10-4, 6-2) vs. Oregon Tech (10-6, 4-2)
5:30 p.m. Friday – SOU (10-4, 6-2) vs. Northwest Christian (7-11, 4-5)
5:30 p.m. Saturday – SOU (10-4, 6-2) vs. Corban (11-6, 5-2)
Live Stats | Live Streams | Tickets

ASHLAND – The 18th-ranked Southern Oregon women's basketball team is one of three two-loss teams in the Cascade Conference standings and will see both of the others during a critical week of action ahead at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Raiders (10-4 overall, 6-2 CCC) will square off with nemesis Oregon Tech (10-6, 4-2) as they try to maintain their hold on second place. They'll tip off at the same time Friday and Saturday, hosting Northwest Christian (7-11, 4-5) and Corban (11-6, 5-2) to end a stretch of five home games over a nine-day span.

LAST TIME OUT: SOU successfully completed a sweep of Walla Walla (Wash.) over the weekend, blowing out the Wolves by scores of 73-49 on Friday and 85-52 on Saturday. The wins were marked by the Raiders' best 3-point marksmanship of the season: In the first, they hit 11 triples in a half for the first time in at least a decade, and in the second, they came one make short of matching the team record with a scorching 16-of-29 effort against WWU's zone defense. Ariel Augustine averaged 21 points and eight rebounds with six 3-point makes, while Daranda Hinkey is believed to have become the first Raider ever to go 6-of-6 from 3 and Delaney Sparling hit four in a row to finish 5-of-8 in the latter effort.

NAIA TOP 25: Minimal movement is expected among CCC squads when the new NAIA Division II coaches' poll is released Tuesday, replacing the latest edition that came out four weeks ago. Eastern Oregon, currently No. 14 and 7-0 in CCC play, will remain the circuit's highest-ranked team and SOU will stay on the list, having gone 5-1 during the rating period. A new poll will be released every other week for the rest of the season.

BRIEFLY:

• After ranking 13th nationally in 3-point makes per game last season (8.9), the Raiders rank 11th now at 9.1 per game and are averaging 11.6 at home. What makes those numbers especially significant is that they graduated players responsible for more than half of their 3-pointers in 2017-18. Daranda Hinkey (28-of-82) is six away from matching her total last year and Delaney Sparling (26-of-63) has already exceeded hers.
• In conference games, the Raiders top the leaderboard for steals per game (14.0) for the fourth year in a row. They feature four of the top-eight in individuals steals: Destinee Jones (3.1), Syd Fryer (2.7), Kenadee Honaker (2.1) and Hinkey (1.9). Honaker has recorded at least three steals in four of SOU's last five games and has collected four on five occasions.
• Ariel Augustine has scored in double figures in 19 of 21 games spanning back to last season. She's SOU's leading scorer in CCC play and 13th on the conference leaderboard at 13.4 per night. Hinkey is averaging 13.2 and Fryer 11.2.
• The Raiders are 57-4 at home since the start of the 2014-15 season and haven't lost at home to a team with a sub-.500 record since Feb. 11, 2012. They're 5-0 at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

ABOUT OREGON TECH:

• The Owls had a four-game winning streak snapped with a 62-58 loss at Warner Pacific on Dec. 30. They were picked third in the conference preseason poll.
• The senior duo of Megan Morris and Nohea Waiwaiole leads the way. Morris is posting 11.5 points in CCC action and scored 20 in OIT's win at SOU last season, and Waiwaiole averaged 10.8 with the second-most assists (4.8) in the conference. The Owls own the CCC's second-best scoring defense (59.3) and opponents' field-goal percentage (35.4).
• SOU is 36-37 all-time in the series but has won five of the last seven matchups. Last year the Owls got their first conference win in Ashland since 2013-14.

ABOUT NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN:

• The Beacons had dropped six of seven games before upsetting Warner Pacific on Saturday, 76-75 at home. A night earlier, they took a one-point loss to Multnomah.
• Sophomore Morgan McKinney scored 21 against WPU and is averaging team-highs of 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. Conner Borigo, a sophomore post, is posting 9.5 points on 52-percent shooting and six boards, and NCU is hitting at a 40-percent clip as a team.
• The Raiders have gone 22-3 against NCU with nine straight wins in the series, and haven't lost to the Beacons in Ashland since 2011.

ABOUT CORBAN:

• The Warriors have gotten hot of late, winning five in a row since CCC-opening losses to College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. They're also 6-3 on the road.
• Jordan Woodvine, a Boise State transfer in her second year at Corban, is averaging a league-best 23.1 points in CCC play and Emily Yost is adding 14.6. They're also the team's top rebounders, combining for more than 12 per game.
• SOU has won nine in a row against the Warriors, running its series record to 42-26, and the closest game during the current streak was decided by nine points.