EUGENE – Southern Oregon's most impressive road swing ever is complete, and Bushnell was in no position to stand in the way of perfection on Saturday at the Morse Center.
Following a 67-37 thumping of the Beacons, the No. 4-ranked Raiders will bring records of 11-0 overall and 5-0 in the Cascade Conference into the new year and their first home game. They got stops on 22 of the first 23 possessions for Bushnell (4-7, 3-2), which had to rally to boost its field-goal accuracy to 22% against another defensive masterclass.
Morgan Baird hit double figures for the seventh consecutive outing with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and two steals, and
Emma Schmerbach did so for the eighth time in 10 games with 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Clara Robbins helped limit Bushnell leading scorer Libby Mathis inside with three blocked shots, three steals and six rebounds.
Dating back to the 2023-24 campaign, the Raiders have won 19 games in a row away from Ashland, 19 in a row in CCC play, and 25 in a row in the regular season.
They stormed out to a 25-2 lead in the latest victory. Up 42-12 at the break, they held Bushnell to its lowest single-half scoring total in 20 years. The Beacons needed a miraculous halfcourt leaner from Liv Tjoelker at the buzzer to get off of nine points.
After forcing 26 turnovers in Friday's 32-point win at Corban, the Raiders forced 20 more against Bushnell and turned them into 26 points.
Meghan McIntyre supplied nine points and
Mallory Williams collected a career-high nine rebounds. Eleven different Raiders hit the scoring column.
They're in sole possession of first place thanks to Eastern Oregon's upset win at No. 13-ranked Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Friday night.
The Raiders are off next weekend before making their Lithia Motors Pavilion debut on Jan. 3 against Evergreen (Wash.) at 5:30 p.m. They're five wins away from matching the best start in team history.