WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday 2/16 vs. Southern Oregon, 5:30 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Saturday 2/17 vs. Oregon Tech, 3:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
 
Bushnell (15-9, 11-7 CCC) is coming off a weekend split, falling to No. 7 LC State, 68-61, before defeating Walla Walla, 65-39. The Beacons have a tough weekend ahead, taking on a pair of Top-25 teams on Senior Weekend, No. 22 Southern Oregon and No. 25 Oregon Tech.
 
RECORDS AND MILESTONES: Junior post Libby Mathis is approaching the all-time single-season rebounding record, needing just four boards to pass Lindsey Shearer (280) and break a record which has stood for 12 years.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: There are only two weeks left in the regular season, and the top five teams have truly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. No. 6 Lewis-Clark State sits at the top of the standings at 17-1, with their lone loss coming from Bushnell. Southern Oregon is second at 16-2, and Oregon Tech is third at 15-3.
 
Bushnell is currently fifth in the CCC and just one game behind fourth-place Eastern Oregon as the sides fight for a home playoff game.
 
The Beacons are currently ranked sixth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 61.9 points per game. On the other end, Bushnell is ranked third defensively, allowing just 58.5 ppg, while holding opponents to a fourth-best 36.0% from the field. The Beacons are third in field goal percentage (.422) and second in blocked shots (3.8 bpg). 
 
Individually, senior guard Aspen Slifka is first in scoring in conference action, averaging 19.9 points per game, and she is eighth in steals at 2.1 per game. Slifka is also the team's second-leading rebounder at 6.4 rebounds per game. Libby Mathis is eighth in scoring in the CCC (15.6 ppg), first in rebounding (12.6 rpg), second in field-goal percentage (.574), and second in blocks (1.9 bpg). Aly Mirabile is currently leading the conference in assists (4.6 apg) while all five Bushnell starters rank in the top-ten in the CCC for minutes played.
 
SOUTHERN OREGON: The Raiders (20-4, 16-2 CCC) moved to second in the CCC standings after three wins last week, including a 75-68 mid-week victory over Oregon Tech. They are coming off a pair of 30+ point wins over Northwest and Evergreen.
 
Southern Oregon is currently fifth in offense, scoring 66.9 points per game. The Raiders are first defensively in the CCC, holding opponents to 52.9 points per game. They are fifth in field-goal percentage (.401), second in field-goal percentage defense (.353), third in three-point percentage (.333), first in blocks per game (4.8), and second in steals per game (10.3).
 
The Raiders are led by Meghan McIntyre and Kami Walk. McIntyre is currently sixth in the CCC in scoring (16.7 ppg), third in assists (4.0 apg), and sixth in steals per game (2.2). Walk is ninth in scoring (14.4 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (7.9 rpg).
 
Southern Oregon won the first matchup, 69-56, after outscoring Bushnell 25-6 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders hold a 29-6 advantage in the all-time series.
 
OREGON TECH: The Owls (21-3, 15-3 CCC) are coming off a 2-1 week, falling to Southern Oregon before defeating Evergreen and Northwest. OIT is third in the CCC standings and sit just a game back of SOU.
 
Oregon Tech leads the CCC in scoring, averaging 76.8 points per game. The Owls are the fourth-ranked defense in the conference, allowing their opponents to score 60.2 points per contest. They are second in field-goal percentage (.459), second in three-point percentage (.338), and first in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by +12.8 per game on average. They are also first in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 34.5% from the field.
 
The Owls are led by Olivia Sprague, who is averaging a fourth-best 17.1 points per game in conference action. Sprague is eighth in the CCC in rebounding at 7.2 rebounds per game. Gabbie Gascon is 12^th in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per contest, while shooting a fourth-best 49.4% from the field. Gascon is also fourth in assists per game (3.9) and third in three-point percentage (.433).
 
The Beacons lost their first matchup against the Owls on the road less than a month ago, 78-45. OIT holds a 24-12 advantage in the all-time series.
 
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday 2/16 vs. Southern Oregon, 7:30 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Saturday 2/17 vs. Oregon Tech, 5:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
 
The Beacons (15-9, 12-6 CCC) are riding a six-game winning streak after knocking off Walla Walla and (RV) Lewis-Clark State over the weekend. Now they prepare for an important home weekend against Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech as they aim for a home playoff game.
 
CCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the second week in a row, the Beacons had a Cascade Conference Rize Laboratory Player of the Week as Kaden Sand was honored. Sand had a huge weekend for the Beacons, averaging 24.5 points per game and shooting 75.8% from the field.
 
On Friday, Bushnell knocked off Lewis-Clark State College for the first time in school history, 83-74. Sand led all players with 29 points, adding nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. That night he also moved into fifth on Bushnell's career scoring list, passing Austin Kuemper and Joe Willis.
 
On Saturday, the Beacons rolled to a 115-76 win over Walla Walla. Sand shot 9-for-11 from the field and collected 20 points. His three first-half blocks gave him 91 in his career, breaking the Bushnell all-time record, which had stood for 14 years.
 
2000-POINT WATCH: Fifth-year senior Stevie Schlabach is quickly approaching the 2,000-point milestone in his career. Only two Beacons have ever reached this mark, which was last achieved by Bushnell's all-time leading scorer Mat Sand in 1991. Schlabach is sitting at 1,930 career points, making him just 70 points shy of becoming the only Beacon to reach the 2,000-point mark in over three decades. With five guaranteed games remaining on the schedule, he needs to average 14 points per game to get there.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: The race for the CCC post-season is heating up with only two weekends remaining. Seven teams, including the Beacons have clinched a playoff spot and four teams are in the hunt for the final slot. Leading the way in the CCC is No. 3 College of Idaho, alone in first place at 17-1. No. 16 Oregon Tech and Lewis-Clark State are tied for second at 15-3 while Bushnell, Corban and Southern Oregon are tied for fourth at 12-6.  The top four teams will host a playoff game and all three teams fighting for that spot are playing each other this weekend.
 
The Beacons continue to lead the conference in scoring, averaging 90.4 points per game. Bushnell has moved up to seventh defensively, allowing 83.7 ppg. The Beacons are No. 1 for three-point shooting (.409) and free-throw shooting (.763), and No. 2 for overall field goal shooting (.495). The Beacons are also second in the conference in rebounds (39.1/g) and third in assists (16.8/g).
 
Individually, Stevie Schlabach ranks seventh in the conference in scoring (15.6 ppg) while Kaden Sand is eighth (15.3 ppg). Spencer Hoffman leads the CCC with 9.7 rebounds per game while Schlabach (.493) and Cory Johnson (.477) land in first and second on the three-point percentage list.
 
SOUTHERN OREGON: The Raiders (14-10, 12-6 CCC) are coming off a 2-0 weekend at home against Northwest and Evergreen, recovering from stretch in which they lost four of five games.
 
SOU is currently tenth in the CCC in offense (74.4 ppg) but rank second defensively allowing just 69.9 points per game. Individually, Casson Rouse leads the team in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game.
 
The Raiders are the home of two former Beacons: Teron Bradford and Cole McAninch. Bradford is second in the CCC for assist-to-turnover ratio (5.7) and averages 9.2 ppg as the only Raider to start every game this season. McAninch is averaging 8.6 points per game.
 
Southern Oregon holds a 34-28 lead in the all-time series with Bushnell. The teams have split the home-and-home series in each of the last two seasons. SOU won the meeting in Ashland in January, 77-72.
 
OREGON TECH: The Owls (20-4, 15-3) are riding a six-game winning streak into the weekend as they have risen to No. 16 in the NAIA national rankings. They rank third in the CCC in scoring (86.9 ppg) and sixth in defense (76.3 ppg allowed). They have the top field-goal percentage in the conference (.511) and they rank second in assists and third in rebounds.
 
OIT's well-rounded attack features seven different players who have led the team in scoring at one point or another.  All five of their starters average at least ten points per game, led by Kam Osborn at 14.4 and Keegan Shivers at 13.0. Jamison Guerra leads the conference and is No. 2 in the NAIA with 7.0 assists per game.
 
The long history between Bushnell and OIT, which dates back to the late 70's, sees the Owls with a 54-16 advantage all-time. They are 23-10 in CCC games, and have won eight of the last nine meetings.
 
SOFTBALL
Saturday 2/17 vs. Willamette, 12:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
Sunday 2/18 at Pacific, 2:00 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
 
Bushnell (1-6) picked up their first win of the season last weekend, splitting a double-header with Lewis & Clark College. This weekend they face two more NCAA Division III foes with Willamette at home and Pacific on the road.
 
MILESTONE WATCH: Senior Madi Steelman is on the cusp of joining the elusive 100-hit club as she has 99 in her career. Not far behind is Senior Faith Wayman, who has 92 hits.  
 
WILLAMETTE: The Bearcats will be opening their 2024 season on Saturday against the Beacons. Last season they finished 16-22 and took sixth-place in the Northwest Conference at 11-17.
 
WU holds an 11-3 lead in the all-time series with Bushnell, but the teams split a double-header in Salem last season.
 
PACIFIC: The Boxers are also playing their first games of the season this weekend, against Eastern Oregon on Saturday before coming to Springfield on Sunday. The Boxers were 7-29 last season and took eighth-place in the Northwest Conference at 5-23.
 
The Boxers hold a 20-3 lead in the all-time series, but the schools haven't played a counting game since 2016. Last season they split an exhibition double-header.
 
BASEBALL
Saturday 2/17 at Pacific Lutheran, 11:00 am (Livestats | Video Stream)
Saturday 2/18 vs. St. Martin's (@PLU), 11:00 am (Livestats | Video Stream)
 
The Beacons (3-3) head to Washington for three games, taking on NCAA Division III Pacific Lutheran in a doubleheader on Saturday and NCAA Division II Saint Martin's University for one game on Sunday. All three games will be hosted at PLU.
 
Bushnell went 2-1 against Simpson last week, with both wins coming via late innings comebacks.
 
On Friday, the Beacons used a five-run ninth inning to take the series opener 5-1. They overcame an even bigger deficit on Saturday, trailing by eight runs entering the top of the seventh. The Beacons put together a nine-run, seven-hit frame to win the game and the series.
 
PACIFIC LUTHERAN: The Lutes will be playing their first games of the season this weekend. Last year, PLU went 17-19 overall and 11-13 in the Northwest Conference.  
 
This will be the first meeting between Bushnell and Pacific Lutheran.
 
SAINT MARTIN'S: The Saints are 2-6 on the year, which includes a series loss to Eastern Oregon to start the season. Last year, SMU went 15-29 overall and 11-19 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Sunday will be the first time the Beacons and Saints face off.
 
ESPORTS
Saturday 2/17 Fortnite Qualifier #2, 12 p.m. 
 
LAST WEEK: The spring Fortnite season got underway last weekend as Christian Velazquez and Ethan Slayden posted 68 points (53 placement, 15 eliminations) in the first qualifier to finish fourth and earn themselves a direct bid to the Collegiate Championship. The duo scored most of their points in the first (28) and third (26) matches, taking second place in both.
 
The second qualifier will take place on Saturday, Feb. 17 at noon.