COMING UP: at Northwest, Friday, 5:30 p.m.; at Evergreen, Saturday, 3 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All OIT women's basketball games for the remainder of the season will be carried live on 104.3-FM & 960-AM in the Klamath Basin and streamed online at MyBasin.com, with Mike Safford on the call – beginning 30-minutes prior to the scheduled tip off. All Cascade Conference games, home and away, will have Live Video via the Urban Edge Network, while Live Stats will be available via OIT's SIDEARM Sports Portal.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – NORTHWEST: The charter bus heads to the Seattle metro this weekend, as the Lady Owls tangle Friday with Northwest. The Eagles (6-12, 2-8 CCC) have split their past four games – earning wins over Evergreen and Walla Walla, as the squad is converting 41% of their field goals (including eight 3-pointers per game), but are averaging 18 turnovers a night and surrendering 75 points per game. The trio of Kaleah Medeiros (12.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Ellie Bost (11.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg) and Jersey McGehee (9.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg) anchor the NU attack, while post Ellie DeWaard (6.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg) is the Eagles top rebounder. OIT claimed a 95-70 victory last month in the first meeting between the schools, their seventh-straight win in the series, improving their all-time series lead to 38-9.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – EVERGREEN: The 4-game road trip ends on Saturday at winless Evergreen, as the Geoducks (0-13, 0-10) have struggled this season – with all 13 losses by 13-or-more points. The Olympia school has struggled mightily offensively - ranking last in the CCC in field goal percentage (.335), 3-point percentage (.232) and scoring average (52.4), with the team scoring over 60 points just three times. Despite the struggles, senior guard Jenna Glenzel (15.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) has put together an all-league type season, leading the CCC in steals (59), with forward Bayleigh Harder (13.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Amaya Afatasi (9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg) key to the Geoducks attack. The Lady Owls are riding a 15-game win streak over Evergreen, with OIT 41-7 all-time against the Washington squad.
 
TWO BIG ROAD WINS: After dropping consecutive home games, Tech righted the ship last week – logging back-to-back road victories to close out the first half of the CCC schedule with a 7-3 mark. Last Tuesday, the Lady Owls used a dominant defensive performance to upset Southern Oregon in Ashland, 50-47 – holding the Raiders to a season-low in point. Saturday, OIT used runs of 24-4 and 21-0 to blow out Warner Pacific, 85-43, the largest margin of victory in a road CCC game since the 2016-17 season.
 
4-0 ROAD STARTS IN CCC: For just the fourth time in program history, the Lady Owls have opened the conference season with a 4-0 mark on the road. Last season, OIT set a program record by winning their first eight CCC road contests, the 2015-16 team opened league play with a 7-0 road record, while the 2023-24 team equaled the current squad by beginning 4-0 away from Klamath.
 
DEFENSE THE KEY: The Lady Owls cranked up the defensive pressure in the two victories, holding consecutive opponents under 50 points for the first time since December of 2023. Southern converted 27% of their field goal chances on Tuesday, while Warner Pacific made just 34% - the fourth and fifth time this season Tech has limited an opponent to fewer than 50 points.
 
MAKING SHOTS: For the fifth time this season, the Lady Owls converted over 50% of their field goal attempts in a game, knocking down 58% of their field goals in Saturday's win at Warner Pacific. Tech is a perfect 5-0 when shooting above the 50% clip and have posted 25-straight wins (dating back to November of 2022) when hitting the threshold.
 
SCHMERBACH STREAK ROLLS ON: Another week, another big effort from Tatum Schmerbach, who continued to fill up the box score in the two Tech wins. The junior had her sixth double-double of the year at SOU, recording 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, followed by 12 points and seven assists at WPU. Schmerbach is the only player in the CCC ranked in the Top-5 of the league's points-rebounds-assists leaders (17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists), needing just 11 points to become OIT's 14th member of the 1,000-point club. She extended her string of double-digit scoring games to 24 - trailing only Shelly Isaacs (41 from 1985-87), Carmen Arroquero (36 from 1983-85), Olivia Sprague (27 in 2022-23) and Alison Bernhardt (25 in 1983-84) on the consecutive 10-or-more point game list.
 
SPRAGUE HAS BEST WEEKEND OF YEAR: Two big games from Olivia Sprague keyed the Lady Owls sweep of games – scoring 11 of her 13 points at SOU, followed by a season-high 20 points at Warner Pacific. The fifth-year player made 50% of her field goal chances on the week, adding 10 rebounds and seven assists – with Saturday's effort the 24th time Sprague has recorded 20-or-more points in a game and first since 2023-24.
 
RAMOS KEY AT SOU: After a scoreless first half at Southern Oregon, Jozie Ramos took over offensively for the Lady Owls – scoring all 14 of her team-high point total after the break – leading the club to the victory. Ramos converted the go-ahead basket late in the fourth quarter to help secure the win. Against WPU, the junior had three blocked shots, moving into sixth-place on the OIT all-time blocks list.
 
MORE FROM THE STARTERS: The stat lines for Kendall Fealey (6 points at SOU, 8 points at WPU) did not show the impact the junior had in both victories – as the guard locked down the top players for both Southern and Warner – limiting both clubs to under 50 points. Ayla Marston was key at WPU, scoring seven points and adding six rebounds.
 
BENCH SUCCESS: In the win at Warner Pacific, the Lady Owls got 32 points from their reserves, including season highs from both Erika Glenn (7 points) and Maddie Eischen (8 points). Chelsea Ching continued her strong play, scoring seven points and posting a career-high four assists.
 
AROUND THE CCC: An extremely tight Cascade Conference heads into the second half of the season with six teams separated by two games in the standings – as Eastern Oregon (9-1) holds a one-game lead on LC State (8-2), with OIT, Corban, Southern Oregon and College of Idaho all at 7-3. All six of the teams are ranked in the Top-40 of the latest NAIA RPI (OIT has the No. 2 strength of schedule in the association) and are all in the Top-10 of the initial Western ARC rating (EOU No. 2, LC No. 3, Corban No. 5, C of I No. 7, OIT No. 9, SOU No. 10), with three teams ranked in the Top-25 poll (No. 13 LC State, No. 17 EOU, No. 20 Corban). This week, along with Tech and SOU heading to Northwest and Evergreen, C of I and Eastern are off to LC State and Walla Walla, while Bushnell hosts Corban for a midweek game, before both teams host Warner Pacific.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, the Lady Owls rank No. 2 in the CCC in field goal percentage (.453), blocks per game (3.4) and assists per game (16.8), with the squad No. 3 in free throw percentage (.738) and rebound margin (+6.1). Individually, Tatum Schmerbach leads the circuit in assists per game (4.7), ranking No. 3 in scoring average (17.8), No. 5 in rebounds per game (7.2) and No. 9 in both field goal percentage (.491) and free throw percentage (.758). Olivia Sprague leads the CCC in free throw percentage (.925), is No. 5 in assists per game, No. 9 in rebounds per game (6.3) and steals per game (1.9), ranking No. 10 in scoring average (13.1) and blocks per game (0.9). Jozie Ramos is No. 6 in blocks per game (1.1), No. 7 in rebounds per game (6.4) and No. 8 in free throw percentage (.792), with Kendall Fealey No. 8 in steals per game (1.8) and No. 10 in blocks per game (0.9).
 
RECORD BOOK: Seven Lady Owls are currently ranked among the Top-50 in the OIT record book, led by Olivia Sprague, who is No. 2 in points scored (1,555), field goals made (551), field goal attempts (1,329) and steals (206), No. 3 in free throws made (260), No. 4 in 3-pointers made (191) and 3-point attempts (516), No. 7 in assists (361) and free throw attempts (314), No. 12 in rebounds (560), No. 14 in blocked shots (55), ranking No. 26 in games played (106). Jozie Ramos is No. 6 in blocked shots (92), No. 10 in free throw attempts (298), No. 12 in free throws made (218), No. 19 in field goals made (323), No. 20 in points scored (877), No. 25 in rebounds (440), No. 31 in field goal attempts (640), No. 40 in games played (81), ranking just outside the Top-50 in steals (61); Gabbie Gascon is No. 9 in free throws made (233), No. 10 in steals (146), No. 12 in assists (274), No. 16 in free throw attempts (280), No. 17 in 3-pointers made (83), No. 19 in 3-point attempts (260), No. 23 in points scored (806), No. 37 in field goal attempts (601), No. 39 in field goals made (245), No. 41 in rebounds (315) and No. 45 in games played (79); Tatum Schmerbach is No. 9 in assists (304), No. 10 in field goals made (417), No. 12 in field goal attempts (914), No. 13 in rebounds (554), No. 14 in points scored (989), No. 19 in blocked shots (42), No. 32 in 3-point attempts (149), No. 34 in 3-pointers made (38), No. 39 in free throws made (117), No. 40 in games played (81), No. 41 in free throw attempts (166) and No. 46 in steals (64); Kendall Fealey is No. 19 in steals (115), No. 20 in blocked shots (37) and No. 40 in games played (81); Chelsea Ching is No. 40 in games played (81), No. 46 in 3-pointers made (20) and No. 48 in 3-point attempts (64); with Brooke Anderson No. 38 in 3-point attempts (90) and No. 42 in 3-pointers made (25).
 
TOPS AT THE GATE: The Lady Owls continue to lead the NAIA in attendance, averaging 887 fans a game at Danny Miles Court – ahead of Midland (844), Carroll (834), LC State (574) and Montana Tech (537). Tech ranks No. 3 among all Oregon basketball schools – trailing only Oregon (4,986) and Oregon State (3,831), but ahead of Portland (779) and Portland State (369).
 
SCORING 90, ALLOWING UNDER 50 EQUAL WINS: OIT has scored 90-or-more points in a game 44 times, posting a 41-3 record in the high-scoring contests. The Lady Owls are riding a 103-game win streak when allowing fewer than 50 points in a game, recording a 177-8 record in such games (last loss occurred in 2012, a 42-40 setback at Eastern Oregon).
 
UP NEXT: The Lady Owls return home next weekend, hosting Walla Walla and LC State. The January 30 date vs. LC will have a noon tip-off – as Tech hosts the third K-12 Field Trip Game, welcoming students from Klamath Basin schools.