By Isaac Fernandez, Assistant SID
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team became the first in Cascade Conference history to finish the regular season undefeated after an 87-65 victory over Multnomah on Saturday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
Morgan Baird scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting to help the No. 3 Raiders win their 28th straight game and improve to 22-0 in conference play.
The Raiders host No. 8 seed Evergreen (Wash.) in Wednesday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank, and have hosting rights for the March 1 semifinals and March 4 title game if they advance.
They led 36-32 at halftime after Baird put in 15 first-half points, scoring 10 in the first quarter on perfect 4-of-4 shooting with two 3-pointers. SOU held the conference's leading scorer, Jersey Huerta, to five points in the first half, but Ellie Robertson scored 12 to keep the Lions within striking distance.
SOU maintained an eight-point lead with 9:14 left before scoring 12 unanswered over the next three minutes. The Raiders grabbed three steals and assisted on four of the five made baskets in that time.
Clara Robbins posted 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. She shot 4-of-6 from the field and made all six of her shots from the stripe.
Bridgette McIntyre added 10 points with two 3-pointers, five rebounds, and two steals.
Meghan McIntyre finished with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
Emma Schmerbach ended the night with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
The Raiders outrebounded the Lions 43-22 and came down with 14 offensive boards. Their physicality was also rewarded with 28 free-throw attempts, nailing 22 of them.
Baird enters the postseason as the second-leading scorer in the circuit, averaging 15.8 points per game. The senior forward has scored in double figures 22 of the last 23 games.
Robertson scored 21 and Makayla Torkornoo added 19 for the Lions, who finished 7-21 overall and 5-17 in the CCC.