No. 3 RAIDER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (23-0, 17-0 CCC)
12 p.m. Friday – at Walla Walla (7-17, 4-14) | Stream | Stats
4 p.m. Saturday – at Lewis-Clark State (20-4, 14-4) | Stream | Stats
What to Know: There is a scenario in which Southern Oregon clinches its second straight Cascade Conference title by the end of the weekend, but it involves foiling perhaps the biggest threat yet to their perfect record and getting a little help. The Raiders' magic number to lock up at least a share of the crown is down to three – meaning they need a combination of three wins or second-place Oregon Tech losses – entering their final road trip of the regular season. They'll be heavy favorites Friday against 11th-place Walla Walla, which they defeated by 43 points last month, and they'll attempt to snap a three-game losing streak on LC State's home floor. A few headlines ahead of the weekend:

• The Raiders moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week's Top 25 – they'd held the No. 4 spot since mid-November – and are one of two unbeaten teams left in the NAIA. They've won 37 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season, including 20 in a row on the road. Those streaks started following a 68-42 loss at LC State on Jan. 12, 2024.
• SOU defeated LC State 89-80 in the first matchup on Jan. 17 in Ashland. The Raiders led that game by 18 points in the first half and overcame a 36-point effort by Ellie Sander that nearly brought the Warriors back. Clara Robbins led SOU with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
• Senior point guard Meghan McIntyre is playing her best of the season entering the trip, averaging 15.3 points on 54% shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from 3, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals over her last four games.
• Morgan Baird has scored in double figures 18 games in a row, ranking third in points (15.1) and first in field-goal percentage (57.5) in conference play.
• Emma Schmerbach is among the CCC's top-10 in blocked shots (1.0), steals (1.7) and field-goal percentage (48.2). She went 15-of-23 from the field and averaged 9.0 rebounds during last week's homestand.
• Tickets are available now for Tuesday's SOU-OIT game, which was rescheduled after a Feb. 4 postponement. If the teams post the same results this weekend, the Raiders will have a chance to cut down the nets with a win over the No. 22-ranked Owls.

RAIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL (16-7, 11-6 CCC)
2 p.m. Friday – at Walla Walla (4-18, 3-15) | Stream | Stats
6 p.m. Saturday – at Lewis-Clark State (18-6, 13-5) | Stream | Stats
What to Know: Southern Oregon moved into fourth place with wins over Corban and Bushnell last week at home, and a strong weekend on the road would put them in position to take over third in the standings. After visiting 11th-place Walla Walla on Friday afternoon, the Raiders face the team directly in front of them, Lewis-Clark State, on Saturday evening. Three of their five remaining regular-season games are against teams currently top-five in the standings, giving the Raiders a chance to boost their postseason résumé at a time when they're playing their best basketball of the season. They've won eight of their last nine, a stretch that includes wins in Ashland over Walla Walla (87-62) and then-No. 21 LC State (73-69). Saturday's LC State matchup is critical for a few reasons, among them the fact that it represents SOU's last chance to secure a road win against a team with a winning CCC record. The Raiders are 0-5 on the road against that group thus far. More headlines entering the weekend:

• Only first-place College of Idaho is giving up fewer points per game than SOU (68.8) in conference play. The Raiders also own the 24th-best offensive rating (114 points/100 possessions) out of 224 NAIA teams.
• Mason Whittaker is in the midst of the highest-scoring stretch of his career, averaging 13.6 points on 51% shooting (20-of-46 from 3) in SOU's last seven games. So is Gabe Reichle, who has averaged 17.5 points on 51% shooting (9-of-21 from 3) over the last two weeks.
• The Raiders lead the CCC in defensive-rebounding rate (75%) thanks in large part to Bryce Dyer, who remains on top of the conference-only rebounding leaderboard at 9.5 per game. The sophomore is also posting 10.2 points on just 7.7 field-goal attempts per CCC game.
• SOU hosts OIT, in a rematch of a December's double-overtime affair, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Ashland. Tickets are available now at souraiders.com/tickets.