Tuesday | Lithia Motors Pavilion
OREGON TECH at SOUTHERN OREGON
5:30 p.m. (Women) | 7:30 p.m. (Men)
Tickets | Live Streams | Women's Live Stats | Men's Live Stats

FAN POLICY: All fans 12 and older planning to attend are subject to SOU's vaccination policy, which requires proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test taken no more than 48 hours prior to entry. Photo ID must be presented for verification. Per state mandate, non-participants will also be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.

WOMEN'S NOTES
INTROS: Playing important games in November may take some getting used to around the Cascade Conference. Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech have gone 21 months since last matching up but they'll renew the rivalry a little earlier than either would likely prefer in the CCC opener Tuesday night in Ashland.

Neither the Raiders (4-1) nor the Owls (5-0) needed long to find their footing, having put together two of the more impressive non-conference runs among CCC teams. The pressure is about to turn up in a hurry, though, considering warranted title hopes on both sides and the fact that they haven't been separated by more than one spot in the standings since 2014-15.

WALK VOTED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kami Walk strapped the Raiders to her back Saturday against Simpson with 39 points and 12 rebounds against Simpson and was duly rewarded Monday with WVT Laboratory Player of the Week kudos. The sophomore forward's point total was the fourth-highest in SOU history and the most for any Raider in 28 years, and she scored 29 in the second half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit in a 77-67 win.

The double-double was her second of the week and third of the season; she went for 19 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 70-41 win over Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), combining to shoot 19-of-30 in the two games. Syd'Nee Fryer also shined in that one with 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals, and she sparked a 30-6 run after halftime with four third-quarter steals.

BRIEFLY:

• Walk currently leads the conference in scoring (21.2) and ranks fourth in rebounding (9.6), eighth in field-goal percentage (55.2) and 10th in blocked shots (1.0). She's scored at least 17 points four times; she did it once while averaging 7.7 as a freshman.
• At 8.0 points per game, All-CCC guard Dominique Harding has yet to break out offensively but is scoring even more efficiently (59 percent FG) than she did in 2019-20 while ranking among the CCC leaders in field-goal percentage (47) and scoring 13.8 per game. She scored 19 in both matchups against Oregon Tech that season.
• Kenadee Honaker needs 33 more steals to become the ninth player in team history with 200 in a career. With a team-high 11 so far, she's led the Raiders to 13 a game.
• With 537 career rebounds, Syd'Nee Fryer is 10 away from taking the No. 15 spot on SOU's all-time list. She's among the CCC's top-10 in average for the third straight season.
• The Raiders' shooting numbers are nearly identical to those of their opponents, but they own a plus-16.4 point differential thanks to a trusted formula: dominating the offensive glass (77-44) and the turnover margin (104-67). The result has been nearly 12 more field-goal attempts per game than their opponents.
• An area of concern for SOU is outside shooting. Since going 10-of-30 from 3 in their season-opener, the Raiders have combined to shoot 21-of-89 (24 percent) over their last four outings.
• The Raiders are 19-7 at Lithia Motors Pavilion since the venue opened in 2018.

ABOUT OREGON TECH: The Owls have yet to be pushed in the early going with an average margin of victory of 32.4 points through five games. They were picked to finish fourth in the CCC, one spot ahead of the Raiders. Freshman forward Shelby Blodgett (12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) and sophomore center Maddyson Tull (10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds) make up an imposing frontcourt, but a veteran backcourt of Kristin Farrell (10.4 points) and Abby Kreiser (6.2 points, 7.8 assists) drives the team. SOU swept the series in 2019-20 with both games decided by five points, and OIT is winless in two visits to LMP.

MEN'S NOTES
INTROS: A much-needed boost is up for grabs as Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech attempt to atone for slow starts that would be quickly forgiven with a win in Tuesday's Cascade Conference opener.

The Raiders and Owls haven't played a pre-January CCC game against each other since Brian McDermott took over as SOU's head coach in 1996. They'll enter this one with matching 2-4 records. The Owls, who were the preseason favorites to win the CCC, have an injury bug partly to blame. The Raiders can only point to their inability to finish so far, having lost games by one, two, five and six points.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: In the Flagship Inn Classic, the Raiders absorbed a disappointing 73-68 loss Friday against Montana Tech as Keeley Bake converted a four-point play with 1:31 remaining to turn around a three-point deficit and give the Orediggers their first lead of the second half. SOU bounced back Saturday against Park (Ariz.), albeit with an ugly 55-50 win behind Josh Meyer's 12 points and 15 rebounds. The score was tied with 10 minutes left when K'wan Carter put the Raiders up for good with a 3-pointer from the corner followed by a dunk in transition that went for a three-point play.

BRIEFLY:

• Meyer recorded his first double-doubles of the season during the Flagship Inn Classic, averaging 14.5 points and 13 rebounds. He's scored in double figures all six games and among all CCC players ranks third in points (18.0) and second in rebounds (8.7). In two games against Oregon Tech last spring he averaged 24 and 11.5.
• Redshirt-freshman forward Joe Juhala enjoyed a big weekend with 13 points per game on 11-of-14 shooting, 3-of-3 accuracy from 3, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. The 6-foot-8 West Linn product has already scored twice as many points in six games this season (56) and he did in nine games as a true freshman during the spring (27), and he's done it on 66-percent shooting.
• Carter has scored in double figures three straight games off the bench, shooting a combined 13-of-24 from the field.
• With 15.3 assists compared to 15 turnovers per game, ball control has been an issue for the Raiders to this point. During their last full season, 2019-20, they averaged 20.2 assists and 10.9 turnovers.

ABOUT OREGON TECH: The Raiders can expect OIT to pound the ball inside – particularly to 6-9 senior Garret Albrecht, who was named the CCC Player of the Week after averaging 29.5 points and 14 rebounds at the Flagship Inn Classic. North Medford product Kaison Faust (10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds) is another sparkplug on both ends for the Owls, who are shooting 49 percent from the field collectively. They won both games against SOU last spring in Klamath Falls. In 2019-20 at LMP, the Raiders rallied back from 17 down in the second half to win in the regular season and from 13 down in the second half before falling in the CCC Tournament semifinals.