5:30 p.m. Friday – Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon | Live Stats
3 p.m. Saturday – College of Idaho at Southern Oregon | Live Stats
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ASHLAND – As is often the case when women's basketball rivals Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon hook up, championships and national poll positioning are on both teams' minds. This time around, a shrinking margin for error within the Cascade Conference should add fuel to the fire.

The No. 23-ranked Raiders (13-4 overall, 9-2 CCC) and No. 16 Mountaineers (15-2, 10-1) play at 5:30 p.m. Friday inside Lithia Motors Pavilion, meeting with each side sitting among the NAIA Top 25 for the first time since the 2017-18 season. As the second half of conference play begins, they're looking up at a first-place Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) team that has won 16 consecutive games and owns a perfect CCC record. The title race is far from decided, though, with both SOU and EOU getting another shot at LCSC on their home floors down the stretch.

Friday's contest marks the beginning of a five-game homestand for the Raiders. It continues at 3 p.m. Saturday against College of Idaho (10-7, 5-6), which SOU defeated on Dec. 2 to split its CCC-opening road trip. Another rival, fourth-place Oregon Tech (12-5, 8-3), comes to town on Tuesday.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders improved to 14-0 all-time against Walla Walla (Wash.) on Friday, breaking a third-quarter tie with 10 straight points to break away for a 70-46 win. They shot 16-of-23 from the time the run started until the final horn as Kami Walk (15 points, 12 rebounds) logged her second double-double of the season and Brianna Phiakhamngon scored 14. On Saturday at Lewis-Clark State, the Raiders fell 54-48 after losing a six-point lead in the fourth quarter. Reigning CCC Player of the Year Callie Stevens spurred the Warriors with 20 points and four assists, helping them overcome SOU's 18-4 opening push.

NAIA TOP 25: A new edition of the NAIA coaches' poll will be released next Wednesday, but the CCC was represented by three teams in last week's: No. 10 LCSC, No. 16 EOU and No. 23 SOU. The conference has gained considerable traction since the preseason, when LCSC was its only ranked squad at No. 22. The Raiders have topped out at No. 18. They've earned spots in the national rankings seven of the last nine seasons.

BRIEFLY:

• After ranking ninth nationally in points allowed last season, the Raiders enter the weekend at No. 2 in that category, giving up 51.2 per game. Their defensive rating of 75 points allowed per 100 possessions is the eighth-best among 236 NAIA teams, tops the CCC, and has shrunk to 71.8 in conference play. They've surrendered fewer than 60 points in 15 of 17 games, and entering the weekend have kept six consecutive CCC opponents below 40-percent shooting – the longest such stretch for SOU since the 2015-16 team did so to seven consecutive CCC foes.
• In conference play, Kalei Iwami and Brianna Phiakhamngon are the CCC's top 3-point-shooting backcourt with a combined average of 4.5 makes per game. Phiakhamngon has scored 11-plus points in all but two outings and is the CCC's third-leading scorer at 15.5 per game. Iwami, averaging a career-high 10.7 points in CCC action, is 22nd on the scoring leaderboard.
• Clara Robbins is in the midst of the most proficient rebounding stretch for a Raider in six years. She's hit double figures on the boards in five of SOU's last eight games, averaging 9.1 during that span. (Autumn Durand reached double figures seven times during a nine-game stretch in 2016-17.) In conference play, Robbins ranks eighth in rebounds (7.5) and fifth in blocked shots (1.6).
• Danasia Allison is two steals away from the 150th of her career. She's collecting 2.3 per game in conference play, the CCC's third-best average.
• Kami Walk, seeking a second straight NAIA All-America nod, is the CCC's only player among the top-20 in points (11.5, 18th), rebounds (7.1, 14th), blocked shots (0.6, 13th), free-throw percentage (80.0, 8th) and 3-point percentage (34.7, 13th). She's closing in on becoming the 20th member of SOU's 1,000-point club, sitting on 911.
• The Raiders have won 15 consecutive CCC games at Lithia Motors Pavilion and are attempting to run the conference table at home for the fifth time in nine seasons. They're 37-8 overall at home since moving into LMP in 2018-19.

ABOUT EASTERN OREGON: The Mountaineers are typically potent under 22nd-year coach Anji Weissenfluh, having taken their only losses against No. 12 Montana Western (in overtime) and at No. 10 LCSC (by two points). Attempting to take back the conference title for the first time since 2019, they're the only team that has solved SOU's defense this year, shooting 55 percent – no one else has done better than 43 – in a 67-54 win on Dec. 3 in La Grande. Their all-conference backcourt of Sailor Liefke (12.6 points) and Beverly Slater (10.1 points, 9.9 rebounds) this season added transfer Bayley Brennan (12.5 points), who has shot 49-of-105 from 3. The team's offensive rating (105 points/100 possessions) is the 10th-highest in the NAIA. EOU leads the all-time series, 51-45, but the Raiders got the Mountaineers twice at home last season, including in the CCC semifinal round.

ABOUT COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The Raiders have won seven of the last eight regular-season meetings in Ashland and won this season's initial matchup 60-48 in Caldwell behind Phiakhamngon's 24 points. Senior forward Sienna Riggle led the Yotes that night with 14 points and tops the team at 13.5 and 8.1 rebounds on the season. Their struggles have come on the offensive end, where they shoot just 36 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3. They're 1-4 on the road entering the weekend. SOU is up 38-29 in the all-time series.