COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. – Walla Walla (Wash.) made Southern Oregon sweat out the final night of the regular season, but a strong finish was enough for the Raiders to earn a 60-47 win at Windemuth Court and lock up second place in the Cascade Conference standings.
The Raiders (25-5 overall, 18-4 CCC) outscored the last-place Wolves (2-27, 1-21) 25-14 in the fourth quarter, where they shot 18-of-21 at the free-throw line.
Dominique Harding had 17 points, six rebounds and three steals, while
Syd'Nee Fryer and
Kami Walk recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds apiece for their second double-doubles of the weekend.
SOU and Eastern Oregon finished tied for second place – a game behind league champion Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), which wrapped up its title run by defeating Oregon Tech. SOU took the tiebreaker over the Mountaineers based on its superior record against teams that went .500 or better or better in conference play.
As the No. 2 seed in the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank, the Raiders will host No. 7 seed Northwest (Wash.) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the quarterfinal round. If they advance, they'll also be at Lithia Motors Pavilion for Friday's semifinals. The title game is set for Feb. 28, and the tournament champion will receive the CCC's second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament – unless LCSC prevails again, in which case the bid will go to the other finalist.
The Raiders have finished top-two in the conference standings five of the last seven seasons. They're home for the quarterfinals for the eighth straight season.
They scuffled from the field against the Wolves, shooting 30 percent for the second night in a row, but bailed themselves out at the line. Harding hit seven free throws in the fourth. Fryer and Walk hit four apiece, and Fryer totaled nine of her points in the quarter.
Walk's double-double was her fifth in seven games and 11th of the season. She shot 5-of-9 from the field, and Harding and Fryer both went 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
The Wolves posted a 35-percent clip from the field, making them the 20th Raider opponent to land below 40.
Brianna Phiakhamngon added eight points for the Raiders and
Kalei Iwami accounted for four of the team's seven assists.