By: SOU Sports Information
*This story has been updated to reflect Tuesday's SOU-Oregon Tech postponement. That game has been rescheduled for Feb. 18.
No. 4 RAIDER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (21-0, 15-0 CCC)
5:30 p.m. Friday – vs. Bushnell (9-13, 8-8) | Live Stats
3 p.m. Saturday – vs. Corban (10-12, 8-8) | Live Stats
TICKETS | LIVE STREAMS
ASHLAND – With a matchup between first-place Southern Oregon and second-place Oregon Tech tabled for two weeks, the No. 4-ranked Raiders will turn their attention to Bushnell and Corban this weekend at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The Raiders (21-0 overall, 15-0 Cascade Conference) can break the program's win-streak record Friday against the Beacons (9-13, 8-8), tipping off at 5:30 p.m. They host the Warriors (10-12, 8-8) at 3 p.m. Saturday, and with a weekend sweep they'd bring their magic number to clinch a second straight regular-season title down to three with five games remaining. Neither Bushnell nor Corban – which enter the weekend tied for sixth place – has defeated SOU since 2020.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders extended their team-record road winning streak, which dates back to last season, to 20 games by defeating Northwest, 79-55, and Evergreen, 79-57, over the weekend in Washington.
Morgan Baird scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting at NU, and
Meghan McIntyre had season-highs of 19 points and four 3-pointers with Baird out of the lineup at Evergreen. McIntyre averaged 17.0 points and 4.0 assists during the trip, also impacting the defensive end with three steals as SOU held its opponents to 38% combined shooting.
BRIEFLY:
- The Raiders have kept 17 of their last 18 opponents under 60 points and scored fewer than 60 just once in 22 outings. They're surrendering fewer points (53.8) than any team in CCC play, and their overall defensive rating (76.0 points allowed/100 possessions) is 13th-best in the NAIA. Their offensive rating (111.1) stands at No. 3: they have the country's top 3-point percentage (39.8) and second-highest field-goal percentage (48.6).
- More on the Raiders' prolific 3-point shooting: SOU's three highest-volume shooters from downtown – Bridgette McIntyre (57-of-119), Sierra Scheppele (33-of-77) and Mallory Williams (22-of-40) – are hitting at an astonishing 45.5% rate on 246 combined attempts. All three are among the CCC's top-five in percentage individually. The last time the Raiders had even one player shoot over 40% beyond the arc on at least 40 attempts was eight years ago.
- Meghan McIntyre's offensive assertiveness last weekend was a welcome development. The all-star point guard hadn't scored 15 in back-to-back games since last season, when she averaged 15.9, and her four 3-pointers at Evergreen were as many as she'd made in the last 19 games combined. Her unselfishness has shone through while enabling four Raiders to average double-figure points for the first time in a decade, but on the CCC-only leaderboard she is still fifth in assists (3.9), ninth in steals (1.7) and 25th in points (10.6). She has also earned CCC Defensive Player of the Week honors three times.
- Emma Schmerbach, a two-time CCC Defensive Player of the Week, ranks ninth in steals (1.7) and 10th in blocks (0.9) in conference play. She has scored 10-plus points on 14 occasions to average 11.6 on the circuit's ninth-best field-goal percentage (48.4).
- Before missing Saturday's game due to injury, Morgan Baird continued her recent tear. Over the last four weeks, the forward is shooting 62% from the field with averages of 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists. She tops the CCC's field-goal percentage leaderboard (59.9) and is second in scoring (15.2).
- The Raiders have won 13 games by 20-plus points. During their perfect start, however, they've faced double-digit deficits four times. The largest of those was at OIT, where they fell behind 16-0 and later 40-24.
- The Raiders are 48-5 at home under fourth-year coach Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt, including a 34-3 record in CCC contests. They've won 35 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season.
ABOUT BUSHNELL: The Beacons saw SOU for the first time in the middle of a seven-game losing streak, falling 67-37 on Dec. 21, but have since won five of seven. They feature an All-CCC, 6-foot-4 senior center in Libby Mathis (14.0 points, 9.3 rebounds), and a quality guard in Ayden Krupke (11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds) who labored through a 1-of-14 outing against SOU the first time around. Offensive woes have plagued the Beacons – they shoot just 37% from the field and 27% from 3, posting 58.8 points on average – but they're solid inside with Mathis and freshman Ellis Mastel, who exploded for 31 points and 13 boards two weeks ago at Multnomah. The Raiders are 31-6 in the all-time series.
ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors collected their highest-quality win of the season last week, 78-67 over Eastern Oregon, and are 4-2 over their last six. Lizzy Bennett, a 6-foot sophomore guard, leads the team at 10.1 points per game. She and seniors Alyssa Wyllie and Gemma LaVergne shoot 40% combined from 3-point range – a number representing Corban's best hope of challenging SOU – but the Warriors went just 4-of-13 from deep the first time around against SOU, losing 88-56 on Dec. 20. They committed 26 turnovers that night and have the second-worst turnover margin in the conference. The Raiders are 51-29 in the series and have won nine consecutive matchups.