ASHLAND – After a year away, the Southern Oregon University women's basketball team has been picked to finish fifth in the Cascade Conference preseason coaches' poll, which was released Tuesday by the league office.

Bushnell is the favorite again after winning the 2019-20 championship and the six-team 2021 spring league, collecting 10 of 12 first-place votes. Eastern Oregon was picked second and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) third, both receiving one first-place vote. Oregon Tech is fourth in the poll.

The Raiders, who were among a handful of teams that opted out of 2020-21, are approaching their debut under first-year coach Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt: an Oct. 29 exhibition at Humboldt State (Calif.).

They were last on the court on March 11, 2020 in the NAIA Division II National Tournament, wrapping up a 20-11 campaign in which they went 14-6 in the CCC to finish third in the standings. Ten players from that team, including four starters, are still around. And they have a pair of returning All-CCC selections in seniors Dominique Harding and Syd'Nee Fryer.

The Raiders have qualified for the national tournament five of their last six seasons in action and have finished lower than third in the standings just once since that run began. As of last year, the NAIA is back to a single division – it'd been split into two from 1992-2020 – and the national field has been expanded from 32 to 64 teams.

SOU will play its first home game on Nov. 8 against Simpson (Calif.).

A season preview will be published next week.

CCC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
1. Bushnell (10)	142
2. Eastern Oregon (1)	127
3. Lewis-Clark State (1)	114
4. Oregon Tech	104
5. Southern Oregon	97
6. Corban	82
7. Northwest	70
8. Warner Pacific	65
9. College of Idaho	56
10. Evergreen	35
11. Multnomah	25
12. Walla Walla	19