carlson
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.

Raiders to take on CCC's best during 3-game homestand this week

1/13/2020 6:01:00 PM

Cascade Conference WBB | Lithia Motors Pavilion
5:30 p.m. Tuesday – Oregon Tech (11-5, 5-1) at SOU (10-5, 6-2)
5:30 p.m. Friday – Corban (11-6, 7-2) at SOU (10-5, 6-2)
5:30 p.m. Saturday – Northwest Christian (12-3, 6-1) at SOU (10-5, 6-2)
Live Stats | Live Streams


ASHLAND – Chaos in the top half of the women's basketball standings has made the Cascade Conference difficult to parse through one month of circuit competition. It'll also make for an intriguing week at Lithia Motors Pavilion with three high-stakes games in five days.

Eastern Oregon, which ran away with the last two CCC titles and was the preseason favorite to win another, put the chase up for grabs with a three-game skid that included back-to-back home losses. The Mountaineers have dropped in the standings behind four teams with one or two losses, each of which will appear in Ashland this week. Southern Oregon (10-5 overall, 6-2 CCC) will start with Tuesday's rivalry matchup against Oregon Tech (11-5, 5-1), then hosts Corban (11-6, 7-2) on Friday and Northwest Christian (12-3, 6-1) on Saturday with a chance to take over first place.

All three games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. tipoffs.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders wrapped up their season series against Walla Walla (Wash.) in under 24 hours with back-to-back comfortable road wins, 80-54 on Thursday and 70-58 on Friday. They trailed for a total of one minute during their stay and in the opener had a 42-0 advantage in bench points, led by Kalei Iwami's 12, while also getting four 3-pointers from Daranda Hinkey and 10 points and eight rebounds from Bryanna Raff. In Friday's matinée, Dominique Harding registered 19 points, seven boards and three steals and Raff scored 11 more. SOU forced 14 turnovers before halftime to build a 16-point lead, eventually improving to 10-0 against the Wolves since they joined the NAIA in 2015 and dropping them to 0-8 in CCC play.

BRIEFLY:
  • In her sophomore season, Dominique Harding enters the week at No. 5 on the CCC leaderboard in points (13.3), No. 5 in field-goal percentage (47.3), No. 7 in steals (2.0) and No. 9 in rebounds (6.2) – making her the CCC's only player in the top-10 of each of those categories. She's scored 15 or more in four of her last five games and seven of her last 11, after doing so once in her previous 31 outings as a Raider.
  • Daranda Hinkey shot 16-of-29 from 3-point range over SOU's last six games after starting the season 12-of-50. She needs three more 3-pointers to become the fifth player in team history to hit 150 in a career, and needs 20 more assists to become the 14th player with at least 250.
  • The Raiders' five-game winning streak is their longest since they ticked off 13 in a row during the 2017-18 season.
  • They're 11-5 at Lithia Motors Pavilion since moving in last season, and 49-8 overall at home under head coach Alex Carlson.
  • The Raiders have forced 20-plus steals every game during the streak and rank 11th nationally with 13.7 per game. Five of the CCC's top-12 individuals in steals per game are Raiders: Kenadee Honaker (2.5), Syd'Nee Fryer (2.4), Harding (2.0), Hinkey (1.8) and Danasia Allison (1.7).
  • Fryer sat out both games at Walla Walla. In six CCC outings, she's posted 13.3 points and team-highs of 8.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
  • Sophomore forward Bryanna Raff has scored in double figures five of SOU's last six games – she'd done so once previously in her career – with 56-percent accuracy from the field (24-of-33).
  • The Raiders shot 46 percent from the field over their last five games. Through their first 10, they were shooting 38 percent.

ABOUT OREGON TECH:
  • The Owls' average of 58.5 points allowed is the best in the conference and 14th-best in the NAIA. They've given up 70 points just once in their last 12 games and are boosted by the NAIA's 11th-best the rebounding margin (plus-8.3).
  • They also own the CCC's top field-goal percentage (43.6). Three Owls are averaging double-figure points in conference play: 6-foot forward Amanda Constant (11.7), 6-2 forward Courtney Clemmer (11.2) and sophomore guard Kristin Farrell (10.3). Farrell has also hit 16 of OIT's 35 3-pointers in loop play, shooting at a 49-percent clip.
  • When OIT visited SOU last January, the Raiders rallied back from 10 points down in the fourth quarter and won 69-65 in overtime. The Owls took one back in Klamath Falls, 71-62, to split the series for the third year in a row. OIT has a 38-37 edge in the all-time series, though the Raiders have won eight of the last 12 matchups.
Print Friendly Version