ASHLAND – Winner of back-to-back Cascade Conference championships, the rebuilt Southern Oregon women's basketball team will have to prove itself in 2025-26.

Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) was tabbed as the favorite, Oregon Tech was picked second and Southern Oregon third in the CCC preseason coaches' poll, released Wednesday by the league office. All three teams garnered multiple first-place votes, as did College of Idaho, which was only a point behind SOU in fourth.

The title race is considered to be wide open in due in large part to roster turnover for the Raiders, who have won 36 consecutive conference games dating back to the middle of the 2023-24 campaign. They lost four starters and seven regular rotation players from last year's team that was 34-0 before falling in the quarterfinal round of the NAIA National Tournament.

Among their eight returning players are All-CCC senior guard Bridgette McIntyre, the circuit's top 3-point shooter, and senior forward Eliza DiGiulio, the reigning CCC Sixth Woman of the Year. Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt – a three-time CCC Coach of the Year and the 2024-25 WBCA NAIA Coach of the Year – put together a 10-person recruiting class comprising six freshmen and four transfers ahead of her fifth season.

Lewis-Clark State returned three All-CCC selections from last year's team that lost to SOU in the CCC Tournament championship game for the second season in a row. Oregon Tech has three all-star starters back, including All-America guard Olivia Sprague, who redshirted in 2024-25 after suffering an injury in the first minute of the season.

SOU debuts Oct. 31 at Montana Tech and is home Nov. 6-7 for the Raider Classic.

The preseason NAIA Top 25 will be released Oct. 22. The Raiders were No. 2 in last season's final poll.

2025-26 CCC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
1. Lewis-Clark State (4)	110
2. Oregon Tech (3)	102
3. Southern Oregon (2)	101
4. College of Idaho (2)	100
5. Eastern Oregon	76
6. Corban	66
7. Bushnell	57
8. Northwest	38
9. Evergreen	35
10. Warner Pacific	27
11. Walla Walla	13