5 p.m. Friday – Lewis-Clark State at SOU | Live Stats
7 p.m. Saturday – Walla Walla at SOU | Live Stats
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ASHLAND – Winners of six straight games, the Southern Oregon women's basketball team would like nothing more than to streak into the postseason. A Cascade Conference juggernaut stands in the Raiders' way this weekend at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

SOU (19-5 overall, 15-3 CCC) closes its regular-season home schedule with matchups against No. 10-ranked Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (22-2, 17-1) at 5 p.m. Friday and Walla Walla (Wash.) (5-16, 4-14) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Raiders are alone in third place with four CCC games left to play – two behind co-leaders LCSC and Eastern Oregon, and two up on Bushnell and Oregon Tech. They've already reserved a playoff spot for the 16th consecutive season, and two more wins would clinch homecourt advantage for at least the CCC Tournament quarterfinal round on Feb. 22.

NAIA TOP 25: Despite going 4-0 since the last poll was released, SOU was left out of Wednesday's latest edition of the NAIA coaches' poll after previously sitting at No. 25. The Raiders are the first team out, six voter points behind No. 25 Pikeville (Ky.), and will remain in good position to make a case for an at-large bid to the national tournament with a strong finish. Lewis-Clark State dropped one spot to No. 10, and Eastern Oregon climbed two to No. 14. Of the Raiders' five losses, four were against teams currently among the top-14. A final poll will be released Feb. 22.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders trailed for a grand total of six minutes, all in the first quarters, during a successful road trip to Washington. They led by as many as 20 points in Friday's 74-64 win at Northwest (Wash.), getting 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from Kami Walk, who scored her 1,000th career point in the performance. On Saturday at Evergreen, they forced a season-high 30 turnovers and had a 35-4 advantage in bench points en route to a 70-55 victory. Danasia Allison, Brianna Phiakhamngon and Emma Schmerbach collected four steals apiece, while Schmerbach, Walk and Kalei Iwami each scored 11. The Raiders improved to 7-2 in conference road games, getting each of those wins by double-figure margins.

BRIEFLY:

• In just her third season, Kami Walk became the 20th member of SOU's 1,000-point club and is now 17 rebounds away from becoming the 15th Raider with 600. The junior has recorded four double-doubles in her last six games, six this season, and 17 in her career – the most for any Raider since Carly Meister accumulated 22 from 2012-16. In CCC play she ranks eighth in points (12.9) and fifth in rebounds (7.7); she's the only player in the circuit to rank top-eight in both categories each of the last two seasons.
• Kalei Iwami and Emma Schmerbach both recorded 24 total points on the road trip. Iwami shot 5-of-12 on 3-pointers and has now made at least one 3 in 20 consecutive outings, averaging 1.9 makes per game to rank 10th in the CCC. With 155 career 3-pointers, she's up to No. 6 on SOU's all-time list.
• A stout defense – which ranks eighth in the NAIA in points allowed per game (53.8) and 16th in points allowed per 100 possessions (77.6) – has allowed the Raiders to win five games in which they've shot worse than 33 percent from the field. They're 12-1 when they record at least 10 steals and 10-0 when they force at least 19 turnovers. They're forcing 18.6 per game and scoring an average of seven more points off turnovers than their opponents (18.6 to 11.6).
• Another win would give the Raiders 20 for the 9th time in 10 seasons. It would also make Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt and her predecessor, Alex Carlson, the only coaches in SOU history to win 20 in each of their first two seasons.
• In three matchups against LCSC since the start of last season, Walk is averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds, while Brianna Phiakhamgon is averaging 14.7 points and three 3-pointers. Phiakhamngon starred with 21 points as SOU defeated the Warriors 56-34 last year in Lewiston for the CCC Tournament championship.
• A win against LCSC would be SOU's first against a top-10 team in conference play over the last decade, though the Raiders defeated preseason No. 4 Carroll (now No. 11) at home in this year's opener. They're 68-9 at home in CCC play since start of 2014, 24-2 overall at home under Kloppenburg-Pruitt, and 41-9 at Lithia Motors Pavilion since moving in for the 2018-19 season.

ABOUT LCSC: The Warriors have won 22 of their last 23 games, the only loss in that stretch being an overtime affair two weeks ago at EOU that left the teams tied for first place. Led by reigning CCC Player of the Year Callie Stevens – who scored 20 points in LCSC's 54-48 win over SOU on Jan. 14 and is averaging 14.7 with 3.5 assists on the season – they feature a potent backcourt that also includes Hannah Broyles (12.3 points, 61-of-176 3FG) and Ellie Sander (11.2 points). Their All-CCC junior forward, Maddie Holm (9.1 points, 8.6 rebounds), is joined inside by 6-foot-3 center Sara Muehlhausen (8.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks). The lineup has been mostly intact as the Warriors have won all but one of their CCC games over the last two seasons, excluding a pair of COVID-19 forfeits. SOU jumped out to an 18-4 lead and was up six in the fourth quarter of the first matchup. In last year's CCC title game, the Raiders held the Warriors to their lowest point total in at least 20 years.

ABOUT WALLA WALLA: SOU is 14-0 all-time against the Wolves after scoring a 70-46 road win on Jan. 13. Before this season, the Wolves had never won more than two CCC games since joining the conference in 2015-16. They got their fourth last Friday against Corban, and a night later nearly knocked off Bushnell in a 68-64 loss. Jaliyah Casem (17.2 points) and Chariah Daniels (15.5 points, 11.3 rebounds) give them a formidable high-low tandem, and they're allowing just 64 points per game.