WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday 2/27 at Eastern Oregon, 5:30 pm (Livestats | Video Stream)
 
Bushnell (16-12, 12-10 CCC) will get another chance at Eastern Oregon on Tuesday, taking on the fourth-seeded Mountaineers in a Cascade Collegiate Conference Quarterfinal contest in La Grande. The Mounties came away with a three-point win on Saturday, defeating the Beacons 60-57.  
 
RECORDS AND MILESTONES: Junior post Libby Mathis recently set Bushnell's single-season records for double-doubles (12), offensive rebounds (94) and total rebounds (310).
 
Aspen Slifka who already owns school records for field goal and three-point attempts, is closing in on Morgan McKinney's all-time scoring record (1,830). Slifka has scored 1,821 points and needs just 10 more to break the record.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: No. 22 Southern Oregon won the regular-season title with a 20-2 conference record to pick up the first seed in the tournament. No. 25 Oregon Tech (19-3) earned the second seed via tiebreaker, while Lewis-Clark State (19-3), who is ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, will be the three-seed. The reigning CCC champions of Eastern Oregon (16-6) are the four-seed.
 
The teams set to hit the road for the quarterfinals are five-seed Bushnell (12-10), six-seed College of Idaho (10-12), seven-seed Evergreen (9-13) and eight-seed Corban (7-15).
 
The winner of the conference championship will earn the CCC's second Automatic Qualifier to the National Tournament. If SOU advances to the final, their opponent will earn the other AQ. The 43rd Annual Women's Basketball National Championship is set for March 21-26, at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, with first rounds beginning March 15, at campus sites.
 
2023-24 CCC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Schedule:
Quarterfinals ­– Tuesday, February 27
#8 seed Corban University at #1 seed Southern Oregon University
#7 seed The Evergreen State College at #2 seed Oregon Tech
#6 seed College of Idaho at #3 Lewis-Clark State College
#5 seed Bushnell University at #4 seed Eastern Oregon University
 
Semifinals - Friday, March 1
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
Second-lowest remaining seed at second-highest remaining seed

Championship - Monday, March 4
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
 
BUSHNELL: The Beacons are ninth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 61.5 points per game. On the other end, Bushnell is ranked second defensively, allowing just 59.1 ppg, while holding opponents to a fourth-best 36.4% from the field. The Beacons are third in field goal percentage (.421) and sixth in three-point percentage (.307).
 
Individually, senior guard Aspen Slifka is first in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game. Slifka is also the team's second-leading rebounder at 6.6 per game. Libby Mathis is 12^th in scoring (14.1 ppg), first in rebounding (11.0 rpg), second in field-goal percentage (.535), and fourth in blocks (1.6 bpg). Aly Mirabile is currently leading the conference in assists (4.3 apg) while all five Bushnell starters rank in the top-ten in the CCC for minutes played.
 
EASTERN OREGON: The Mountaineers (20-6, 16-6 CCC) have won six straight, but their tightest margin of victory came against the Beacons on Saturday, just a three-point win at home.  
 
EOU is third in the CCC in scoring, averaging 70.7 points per game. The Mounties are fourth defensively, holding opponents to 60.5 points per game. They are fourth in field-goal percentage (.416), third in three-point percentage (.335), and third at the free throw line (.753). Eastern also averages a second-best 42.2 rebounds per game.
 
The Mounties are led by junior forward Brie Holecek, who is fifth in the conference in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Holecek is shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc, ranking her fifth in the CCC. Behind her in scoring is Bayley Brennan, who is averaging 14.5 points per game and is shooting a seventh-best 37.6% from deep. Beverly Slater is the leading rebounder for the Mounties, averaging a second-best 10.8 per game, while shooting 47.8% from the field (8^th).  
 
Eastern holds a 26-12 advantage in the all-times series against Bushnell, winning the last four matchups.