5:30 p.m. Tuesday – #25 Oregon Tech at #7 SOU – Live Stats | Live Stream | Tickets
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ASHLAND – Considering the teams coming to town and the current Cascade Conference standings, the seventh-ranked Southern Oregon women's basketball team is staring down its most important week at home in at least eight years.

That's how long it has been since the Raiders (21-1 overall, 14-1 CCC) last won a conference title. But if they can extend an active 18-game home conference win streak through three games this week at Mountain Avenue Gym, they will have clinched another one – thereby securing an automatic berth in the NAIA Div. II national tournament.

The drama will begin to unfold with Tuesday's 5:30 p.m. tipoff against archrival Oregon Tech (20-5, 13-2), which is ranked 25th, one game behind the Raiders in second place and on a nine-game win streak since dropping a 61-48 decision to SOU on Jan. 5 in Klamath Falls. The Owls are also responsible for SOU's most recent home loss, a 77-74 upset in last year's CCC tournament semifinals at Riehm Arena.

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Raiders will host third-place Eastern Oregon (18-8, 14-3), which is the three-time defending CCC champion and handed SOU its only loss this season. At 1 p.m. Sunday, the Raiders hope to be in position to cut down the nets when College of Idaho (8-15, 7-10) visits on Senior Day.

(Bench) Talking Points: Considering SOU's average scoring margin of plus-37.8 points in conference play, its bench has gotten ample time to shine. As a group, the Raider reserves are contributing 38.7 points per game – just ahead of Eastern Oregon (30.4) and OIT (25) – and Saturday's 72 against Walla Walla were a school record. Five Raiders are averaging over 20 points per 40 minutes of playing time, and three are coming off the bench: Majerle Reeves, Sydney Mullings and Courtney Setzer. Representing the Raider bench among all CCC leaders, Mullings ranks 29th in points (9.1) and fifth in field-goal percentage (56.3); Toria Bradford ranks second in steals (2.8), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7) and ninth in assists (3.2); Setzer ranks first in field-goal percentage (65.2) and sixth in blocks (1.0), and Reeves is 10th in 3-pointers made (25).

Quick Hits:
– The Raiders have already clinched a homecourt advantage through at least the first round of the eight-team CCC tournament. The quarterfinal round will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23.
– Despite needing to play just 21.2 minutes per game in CCC play, Ashley Claussen still leads the league in points (17.7) and steals (3.1), is second in 3-pointers made per game (3.1) and seventh in assists (3.7). The only time she didn't score in double figures this season was a 1-for-10 showing at Oregon Tech.
– SOU is second in the NAIA at 90.3 points per game and is averaging 92.3 in conference action. The Raiders only need to average 60 points in their final five games to break the CCC scoring record they established two years ago (84.2).
– The Raiders are second in the NAIA in turnover margin (plus-9) and steals per game (15.8). They average 15.7 turnovers, down three per game compared to last season.

About Oregon Tech: Attempting to qualify for their third straight national tournament, the Owls have leaned on a veteran core to break back into the top-25. Their leading scorers in CCC play are junior Ashleigh Vandenbrink (13.4 points) and three seniors: Karly LeVeque (12.3), Megan Whetstone (11.3) and Tess Armstrong (9.2)… They rank in the CCC's top-three in every major statistical category – points (74.5), points allowed (55.5), field-goal percentage (45.7), defensive field-goal percentage (35.0) and 3-point percentage (38.2). They're the most accurate 3-point shooting team in the league but were just 5-of-23 the first time around against SOU… OIT has the all-time series edge against the Raiders, 35-32, but SOU has won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings in Ashland.