ASHLAND – The many accolades to her name were ovation-worthy enough when Kami Walk was announced as part of Southern Oregon's senior-recognition ceremony following Saturday's regular-season finale. But considering the moment she'd delivered minutes earlier – a game-winning, championship-clinching shot against the No. 6-ranked team in the NAIA – the Lithia Motors Pavilion crowd let out a reverent roar in response to her name.

With No. 22 SOU and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) tied on the scoreboard and atop the Cascade Conference standings, Walk drove left from the right elbow and went under the arms of her defender to scoop a layup off the backboard and in with 1.6 seconds left. It made the Raiders 60-58 winners after Darrian Herring's turnaround jumper rimmed off at the buzzer on the other end, triggering their first regular-season title celebration in seven years.

The Raiders (24-4 overall, 20-2 CCC) had fallen a game behind LCSC (23-4, 19-3) with a deflating 68-42 loss in Lewiston on Jan. 12. They've won 14 in a row since, earning homecourt advantage throughout next week's CCC Tournament and an automatic bid to make their fourth consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearance.

"I am so incredibly proud of how this team competed for 40 minutes," SOU head coach Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. "We got down and just kept at it, and had some clutch plays in the fourth quarter. You just couldn't write a better story than to win like this at home with a crowd like that behind us on senior night."

The game was the first between CCC co-leaders on the final day of the regular season in the last 25 years. It met the hype with six lead changes and three ties in the second half alone.

The Warriors, led by two-time CCC Player of the Year Callie Stevens' 23 points, went up 51-44 with eight minutes left after two quick buckets to open the fourth quarter. Mallory Williams promptly got the Raiders back within a point by hitting 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

Trailing by two with 3:26 to go, SOU point guard Meghan McIntyre put the finishing touches on her 20-point effort by beating the shot-clock buzzer with a floater in the lane that banked in as she absorbed a foul. She completed the three-point play, but Stevens answered back with a jumper that put the Warriors in front again.

After a Stevens free throw made it 57-55 inside the two-minute mark, Raider senior Izzy Hernandez, who'd misfired on her first eight 3-point attempts of the night, came up clutch on her ninth to put up the Raiders up by a point. LCSC's Sitara Byrd then split a pair of free throws to tie the score with 15 seconds left, setting up Walk's heroics out of a timeout.

"I'm pretty comfortable in those situations at this point and it helps to have teammates who trust you to make the right play," Walk said. "They put me in a good spot to get to the rim."

Walk finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, notching her third double-double of the month. Hernandez logged seven points, four assists and four boards, and Williams scored eight off the bench. Emma Schmerbach starred defensively, going for three steals and six rebounds.

As the No. 1 seed in the CCC Tournament, the Raiders will be home for the quarterfinal round at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against No. 8 seed Corban.

The championship is their seventh in CCC regular-season history and third in eight years. They last celebrated a title on LCSC's home court, winning the 2022 CCC Tournament final in upset fashion behind Walk's 20 points and nine rebounds. The crowd was behind Walk this time around, duly responding to another All-America performance that met the moment.

Her game-winner was reminiscent of the one she hit in the first round of last year's NAIA National Tournament against Wayland Baptist (Texas), a contested lefty floater that completed SOU's historic 29-point comeback in the final seconds.

"She's just incredible," Kloppenburg-Pruitt said. "When you think about the leadership, the skill, the numbers and all the big-time clutch plays she's made for us again and again, this was pretty much the perfect ending."