ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon women’s basketball team became the first in Cascade Conference history to finish the regular season undefeated after an 87-65 victory over Multnomah on Saturday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

Morgan Baird scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting to help the No. 3 Raiders win their 28th straight game and improve to 22-0 in conference play.

The Raiders host No. 8 seed Evergreen (Wash.) in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships, and have hosting rights for the March 1 semifinals and March 4 title game if they advance.

They led 36-32 at halftime after Baird put in 15 first-half points, scoring 10 in the first quarter on perfect 4-of-4 shooting with two 3-pointers. SOU held the conference’s leading scorer, Jersey Huerta, to five points in the first half, but Ellie Robertson scored 12 to keep the Lions within striking distance.

SOU maintained an eight-point lead with 9:14 left before scoring 12 unanswered over the next three minutes. The Raiders grabbed three steals and assisted on four of the five made baskets in that time.

Clara Robbins posted 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. She shot 4-of-6 from the field and made all six of her shots from the stripe. Bridgette McIntyre added 10 points with two 3-pointers, five rebounds, and two steals.

Meghan McIntyre finished with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Emma Schmerbach ended the night with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

Men’s Basketball

SOU 89, MULTNOMAH 76: At Ashland, Elijah Jackson’s second-half takeover and Bryce Dyer’s 10th double-double enabled Southern Oregon to secure the Cascade Conference’s No. 4 seed in the regular-season finale Saturday evening at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

The result gave the Raiders (19-9, 14-8 CCC) homecourt advantage in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal round of the CCC Championships against No. 5 seed Eastern Oregon. The Lions (16-11, 12-10) dropped to the No. 7 seed and will visit Oregon Tech.

Jackson punctuated a convincing All-CCC campaign with a perfect 8-of-8 second half that included three 3-pointers. It gave the veteran guard 26 points, five assists and three steals on the night — an effort complemented by Dyer’s 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. The duo led SOU to a 57% mark from the field.

The Raiders’ lead was 54-52 with 15 minutes remaining when Khalil Chatman triggered an 8-0 surge by finishing Mason Whittaker’s pass inside. Dyer and Jackson followed with back-to-back 3s, and, after the Lions cut the deficit to six points a couple minutes later, Jackson went on a personal 8-2 run with a finish at the basket, a steal and a pair of triples.

Over the final five games of the regular season, Jackson averaged 21.2 points on 66% shooting from the field and 52% beyond the arc.

He and the Raiders will be home for the CCC quarterfinals for the third year in a row. They’ve advanced to the semifinals each of the last six postseasons.

Chatman marked his senior night with one of his most well-rounded performances of the season, totaling 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Joe Juhala was perfect on three attempts with two 3s to score 11 points, Liam Clark shot 4-of-5 to score nine, and Mason Whittaker had seven assists.

Softball

NAIA SB INVITATIONAL: At Shawnee, Okla., the NAIA Softball World Series is still three months away, but at a tournament billed as an early preview of sorts, No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon stole all the buzz on Saturday.

The Raiders jumped to 4-0 at the NAIA SB Invitational, 11-0 on the season, and positioned themselves to move up the polls with three high-quality wins at FireLake Ball Fields: 7-2 over Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), 2-0 over No. 2 Science & Arts (Okla.), and 8-6 over No. 3 Cumberlands (Ky.).

Freshman pitcher Ayla Davies, after throwing a five-inning no-hitter against No. 17 Hope International (Calif.) on Friday, remained the weekend’s major story with three more wins in the circle — her sixth, seventh and eighth in a row to start the season. She worked 19 of SOU’s 21 defensive innings and allowed just three runs, the highlight of her afternoon a one-hitter against Science & Arts.

Faith Moultrie starred at the plate with seven hits in eight at-bats, while Piper Love and Aril Williams blasted their first home runs of the year while combining for nine RBIs.

SOU completes its stay in Oklahoma at 7:45 a.m. Sunday against Campbellsville (Ky.). A brief rundown of Friday’s action follows:

SOU 7, FREED-HARDEMAN 2: Williams, who went 5-for-10 on the day, hit a two-run shot in the first inning and an RBI single in the fifth. SOU’s lead was 6-0 when Davies departed after posting five shutout frames. She struck out four and allowed three hits before giving way to Mayze Menefee. Hailey Seva tacked on a run-scoring double in the sixth, and Vanessa Lang went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

SOU 2, SCIENCE & ARTS 0: Davies got the best of a pitchers’ duel with three-time All-American Sophie Williams with maybe her best outing yet. The one-hitter was her fifth complete-game shutout of the season, and she came within five outs of a no-hitter while striking out seven without issuing a walk. The Raiders got to Williams for their only runs in the first inning when Lang led off with a double, Faith Moultrie hit an RBI double, and Williams followed with a run-scoring single.

SOU 8, CUMBERLANDS 6: Love lifted the Raiders with a three-hit, five-RBI effort in the finale, including a three-run home run that gave them a 5-3 lead in the third inning. Maliyah Wilkings tied the score at 6-6 with her own three-run shot in the third, but SOU untied it in the sixth on a first-and-third steal play that led to an error and Brooke Nordahl’s go-ahead trot home. Love provided insurance in the sixth with an RBI single up the middle.

Davies didn’t start in the circle, but her respite was short-lived. She entered after the Patriots’ first three batters reached and scored, and wound up recording all 21 outs for SOU. The relief stint, which included eight strikeouts, left her miniscule ERA at 0.57. Moultrie helped her out with three hits and two runs scored, while Nordahl doubled twice.

Beach Volleyball

SOU DROPS TWO: At Santa Clarita, Calif., No. 8-ranked Southern Oregon dropped a pair of beach volleyball matchups, 4-1 against No. 3 The Master’s (Calif.) and 4-1 against Vanguard (Calif.), to cap its opening weekend of play on Saturday at the TMU Beach Courts.

The Master’s dropped the Raiders for the second day in a row, though SOU got a win to show for its efforts this time around from the No. 5 pair of Skyy Nihipali-Botelho and Natalie Perez in straight sets. In the loss to Vanguard, No. 2 pair Grace Gulbrandsen and Kira Sandoval put the Raiders on the board by outlasting Paige Cutwright and Madison Arnold in a tiebreaker.