Raider women, men to begin Cascade playoffs

ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon women's basketball team travels to Caldwell, Idaho , for a first-round Cascade Collegiate Conference playoff game against No. 20 College of Idaho tonight at 6 PST.

Southern Oregon, 14-15 overall and 5-13 in conference play, closed out the regular season tied for seventh in the conference standings. With Southern Oregon holding a seeding tiebreaker over Evergreen, the Raiders earned the seventh seed in the conference playoffs and the matchup with second-seeded C of I.

College of Idaho ranks 20th in the latest NAIA poll and finished the 2011-12 regular season in second place in the conference standings with a 14-4 record, 19-8 overall.

College of Idaho won eight of its last nine games to close out the regular season, with the Yotes' only loss during that stretch a 76-62 road loss to regular-season champion Corban on Feb. 4.

Southern Oregon is 21-22 all-time in the series against the Coyotes, but C of I has won the last eight meetings.

The Yotes defeated SOU 63-56 in Caldwell in December and 55-47 in Ashland last month.

During the conference season, Southern Oregon has ranked seventh in the conference in scoring (58.7 points per game) and eighth in opponents' scoring (65.1). The Raiders rank second in the conference and eighth in the nation with an average of 45.1 rebounds per game.

Haley Newell leads the team with an average of 11.2 points per game in conference play. The Raiders are outrebounding their opponents by 1.8 per game, led by Nalani Hernandez with 7.0 per contest, an average that ranks sixth in the conference.

Kiara Moore is averaging 5.6 rebounds per game, followed by Krysten Copeland (5.0).

Men's Basketball

SOU AT WARNER PACIFIC — Southern Oregon travels to Portland for a first-round Cascade Collegiate Conference playoff matchup against third-seeded Warner Pacific at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Southern Oregon, 17-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play, was tied for fifth in the conference.

The Raiders split with Warner Pacific in conference play.

"We should be pretty healthy and ready to go," SOU head coach Brian McDermott said. "It will be a packed house and it will be pretty wild. We're just going to have to have some composure. Our young guys have to stay composed."

Warner Pacific is ranked 15th in the latest NAIA poll and finished the season third in the CCC standings with a 14-4 record, 22-7 overall. It ranked second in shooting percentage (.470) and opponents' shooting percentage (.429), and the Knights' plus 7.6 scoring margin ranked third.

Warner Pacific leads the nation in assists (18.0 per game), steals (11.4) and turnover margin (plus 5.5) and ranks third in the NAIA in assist/turnover ratio (1.38).

The Raiders took this season's first meeting between the teams, winning 81-69 in Ashland in December. The Knights won 65-61 in Portland on Jan. 27.

SOU's Eric Thompson is averaging 18.8 points per game in conference play to rank second in the CCC, and he ranks sixth in the league in rebounding (7.3 per game), right behind teammate Terriel Thomas (7.7).

Jordan Highland ranks 10th in the CCC with a 56.2 shooting percentage and is averaging 12.9 points per game, while Jeff Bush ranks fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.93).

Baseball

OREGON 12, HAWAII 6 — At Honolulu, for the first time in three attempts, Oregon will depart Hawaii with a series win.

The Ducks (3-1) will leave Honolulu with a 3-1 series win after batting .335 against Hawaii (1-3) and totaling 30 runs in four games.

Junior J.J. Altobelli led the Ducks with a 5-for-6 performance, which included three doubles — the most any Oregon player has produced in a game since the program was reinstated in 2009. The Newport Beach, Calif., native also drove in two runs and scored twice.

Oregon totaled 17 hits, including seven for extra bases.

In his second career start, Jeff Gold (1-0) earned the win, tossing five innings and holding Hawaii to four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five.