ASHLAND – There will be no sharing of the Cascade Conference regular-season title. When No. 22-ranked Southern Oregon and No. 6 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) meet for the finale Saturday at Lithia Motors Pavilion, the winner will get the trophy to itself.
The Raiders did their part to rev up the drama by rolling to a 13th consecutive win on Friday afternoon, 65-49 over Walla Walla (Wash.). The Warriors did theirs by missing out on a chance to clinch a share of a third straight title with a 76-61 loss at Oregon Tech, watching their win streak end at 15 games.
SOU (23-4 overall) and LC State (23-3) will enter the 3 p.m. clash both standing at 19-2 in conference play. It'll be the first time in the last 20 years that the CCC's co-leaders have met on the final day of the regular season.
The Raiders secured a top-two seed in next week's CCC Tournament by defeating the Wolves (9-17, 6-15). The win was never in doubt: They went on a 14-4 game-opening run keyed by three
Mia Wilmot buckets, led 34-16 by halftime and were up by as many as 31 points in the third quarter.
Junior point guard
Meghan McIntyre got to the basket at will, finishing with 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
Kami Walk had nine points, six rebounds and four assists,
Izzy Hernandez scored nine, and
Emma Schmerbach totaled six rebounds and five assists.
The Raiders struggled from 3-point range but shot 28-of-47 inside the arc, racking up 48 points in the paint.
Chariah Daniels' 12-point, 10-rebound double-double led the Wolves, who were limited to 35-percent shooting and committed 20 turnovers. They became the fourth SOU opponent in five games to score fewer than 50 points.
LC State took the first matchup from SOU, 68-42 on Jan. 12. The Raiders haven't lost since. They're seeking their first regular-season championship since 2016-17.