The Bushnell basketball teams return home to take on the Yotes and the Mounties while Indoor Track sends seven qualified athletes to Seattle for the University of Washington event. The Esports spring season also rolls along.
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
 
Friday 1/31 vs. College of Idaho, 5:30 pm
Saturday 2/1 vs. Eastern Oregon, 3:00 pm
 
THIS WEEK: Bushnell can make a move in the CCC standings this weekend, facing off against a pair of teams within striking distance ahead of them in the College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
 
LAST WEEK: It was a great weekend for the Beacons, especially in the post, as they banked a pair of victories against Warner Pacific, 70-68, and Multnomah, 75-63.
 
Ellis Mastel and Libby Mathis had incredible weekends for the Beacons in the paint as the duo combined to score 78 points and 49 rebounds. Mathis nearly pulled off a triple-double against Multnomah, scoring 9 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists. Ayden Krupke also filled the stat sheet against the Lions with 13 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ellis Mastel earned Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Week honors on Monday after her solid weekend against WPU and MCJU. The freshman averaged 24.5 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 63% from the field. She scored 31 against the Lions, just two away from the Bushnell freshman record, and her 15 field goals were the second highest total in school history and the most in 16 years.
 
MILESTONE WATCH: Libby Mathis continues to collect records and this week she became Bushnell's all-time leader for blocks (152). She now owns career records for blocks, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and double-doubles, and she finds herself in the top-five all-time in 11 categories. She has moved into fourth all-time in scoring with 1207 points and needs just 30 to move past Emily Gray for third all-time.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: No. 4 Southern Oregon University is undefeated at 19-0, including an 13-0 record in the conference, holding a two-game lead in the standings over No. 23 Oregon Tech (15-4, 11-2). No. 24 Lewis-Clark State is third, followed by Eastern Oregon in fourth and The College of Idaho in fifth.
 
Bushnell sits in sixth, tied with Corban and holding a 2.5 game lead over Northwest in eighth. The Beacons are eighth in the CCC in scoring (58.3 ppg) and sixth on defense (64.8 ppg allowed). Bushnell is fifth in the CCC in rebounding, averaging 38.5 boards per game, including 12.4 offensive rebounds per contest which ranks second.
 
With 13.8 points per game, Libby Mathis is currently sixth in the CCC in scoring. She is third in rebounding (9.0/g) and fourth for blocks (1.2/g). She leads the conference in offensive rebounds (75).
 
THE COLLEGE OF IDAHO: With a 10-9 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the CCC, the Yotes are currently just one game ahead of the Beacons in fifth-place. They have lost three straight and four of their last six games, and were swept by Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon on the road last weekend.
 
CI is seventh in the CCC in scoring, averaging 60.1 points per game, but their defense is allowing just 58.2 ppg, which ranks fourth. Friday will be a tough task for the Beacon wings, as the Yotes rank first in the CCC in three-point defense (.282 allowed) and the Beacons are 11th in three-point offense (.269).
 
The Yotes spread their offense around with no player averaging more than 9.6 points per game (Brooke Beresford). Eight different players have been their top scorer across their 19 games this season.
 
With a 67-43 win earlier this season, The College of Idaho is now 20-15 in the all-time series with the Beacons. That victory broke a seven-game winning streak for the Beacons, who are 8-2 over the last ten games played between the schools.
 
EASTERN OREGON: EOU comes into the weekend with a 13-6 record, including a 9-5 mark in CCC games, good for fourth-place. They have won three of their last four games.
 
The Mounties are fourth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 70.1 points per game, and fifth defensively (59.8 ppg allowed). EOU is the top free-throw shooting team in the conference (78.8%) and they are third in rebounding, averaging 39.4 rebounds per game and a +5.2 rebounding margin.
 
Kelsie Seigner is second in the CCC in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game, and she is eighth in rebounding with 6.9 boards per game. Brie Holecek leads the conference and is fifth in the NAIA in free-throw shooting, hitting 92.5% of her attempts at the charity stripe.
 
EOU is 28-12 in the all-time series with the Beacons and has won six straight. The Mounties defeated the Beacons at home in early January, 71-61 despite 20 points and 11 rebounds from Libby Mathis.
 
MEN'S BASKETBALL
 
Friday 1/31 vs. College of Idaho, 7:30 pm
Saturday 2/1 vs. Eastern Oregon, 5:00 pm
 
THIS WEEK: The Beacons have their work cut out for them, taking on the No. 4-ranked College of Idaho as well as fifth-place Eastern Oregon University. The two schools defeated the Beacons by over 20 points in their last meetings in early January.
 
LAST WEEK: Bushnell lost a pair of heart-breakingly close games on the road last weekend, falling to Warner Pacific, 78-76, and Multnomah, 86-84 in overtime.
 
MILESTONE WATCH: Senior Luke Smith has moved into third-place on Bushnell's career three-pointers list. He has 151 and needs five to move past Stevie Schlabach into second. Smith has now taken 449 three-point attempts in his career which is the second-most in school history, needing 10 more to pass Jack Hackman and set a new career record.
 
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: With just one conference loss, No. 4-ranked College of Idaho is at the top of the standings, holding a 1.5-game lead over No. 24 Oregon Tech. In what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive years ever in the conference, a total of seven CCC schools are above .500.
 
The Beacons are currently tied with Warner Pacific for the eighth-and-final playoff spot with the teams having split their regular-season series and the tie-breaker up in the air. Bushnell is fifth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 81.2 points per game, and they are ninth defensively, allowing 79.1 ppg.
 
Cory Johnson leads the Beacons and is fourth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game. In CCC games, Squeeky Johnson leads the Beacons and the conference, averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game.
 
COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The Yotes (18-2, 13-1) are riding an eight-game winning streak, since dropping their only CCC game to Corban back on January 3.
 
C of I leads the CCC in both scoring (85.8 ppg) and defense (63.8 ppg allowed), giving them an impressive +22.0 scoring margin, that number increases to +22.3 in conference games.
 
Johnny Radford has been the Yotes top scorer seven of their last eight games, and he is 12th in the conference in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Straton Rogers is third in the CCC for field goal percentage (.610) and fifth in rebounding (8.6 rpg) while Samaje Morgan is second in the conference with 4.9 assists per game.
 
The College of Idaho is 27-6 all-time against the Beacons and have won 11 straight dating back to before the pandemic. The last win for the Beacons came at home in 2018 when CI was ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Yotes won earlier this season in Caldwell, 91-72, behind a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double from Rogers. Cory Johnson led the Beacons with 22 points that game.
 
EASTERN OREGON: The Mounties (13-7, 8-6) come in after dropping both of their games last weekend, but they have won seven of their last ten. They are currently tied for fifth in the conference with Multnomah.   
 
EOU is third in the CCC in scoring (82.2 ppg) and seventh on defense, allowing 75.4 points per game. They lead the conference and rank #22 in the NAIA for field-goal percentage at .493, and they do most of their damage from three-point range where they also lead the conference at 37%
 
Garrett Hawkes is the top scorer in the CCC, averaging 19.3 points per game. His 43 made three-pointers rank fourth.
 
The Mounties are 23-13 all-time against Bushnell and have won four of the last five meetings including an 85-62 win in La Grande back in January. Hawkes scored 24 points and ten rebounds in that game for EOU while Kaleb Burnett posted 15 to lead the Beacons.
 
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
 
Friday-Saturday, January 31 – February 1 at UW Invitational
 
LAST WEEK: Five school records were broken or established last weekend as the Beacons opened up the Indoor season at the Portland Indoor event. Freshman Cadence Smith broke the women's 10000m record while sophomore Logan Gant created the men's 1K standard.
 
Junior Leah Schiewe broke the school-record in the shot put with a toss of 10.96m, while sophomore Maxwell Al-Rubaie set new Bushnell standards in both the shot put (11.10m) and weight throw (13.35m).
 
A total of 41 personal records were either established or broken over the weekend.
 
THIS WEEK: Seven Bushnell student-athletes have qualified to compete at the UW Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor Track in Seattle. For the women, Sierra Janikowski will compete in the 60-meter hurdles while Cyan Kelso-Reynolds makes her collegiate debut in the long jump.
 
On the men's side it will strictly be a jumper's jamboree. Bushnell's high jump and triple jump school record holder Jermaine Schexnayder will compete in both of those events while long jump record holder Kaleo Wellman competes in his signature event. Ty Kishen and Hunter Reininger join Wellman in the long jump while freshman Maui Richmond makes he collegiate debut in the high jump and long jump.
 
ESPORTS
 
Monday, 2/3: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Teamfight Tactics, FC 25, 5:00 pm
Tuesday, 2/4: NBA 2K, Fortnite, 5:00 pm
Wednesday 2/5: Rocket League, College Football 25, 5:00 pm
Thursday 2/6: Madden, 5:00 pm
 
Bushnell Esports opens its second week of the spring season next week, beginning with an SSBU match against Wilson College (0-1). Nathan Farris (T-25th – Division B) and Zack Claunch (T-13th – Division A) play their second week of matches in TFT, looking to stay in the top half of the leaderboard.
 
Andrew Bennett is coming off a decisive victory in FC 25, while Caden Hoerauf and Mason Monrroy continue play in their respective sport titles. Hoerauf plays CFB 25 and Madden, while Monrroy plays NBA 2K and CFB 25.

The Beacons had three teams in action last week in Fortnite, led by the duo of Nick McGowen and Farris. The results from the first week of matches have not been finalized. Rocket League had their scheduled bye in week one, meaning their regular season will kick off next week.