KLAMATH FALLS, OR – After defeating sixth-seeded Bushnell (Ore.) in the quarterfinal on Wednesday, the third-seeded No. 25 LC State Women’s Basketball team will take on second-seeded No. 23 Oregon Tech in the semifinal round of the 2025 Cascade Conference Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, on Friday. The contest in the KIamath Falls is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The third-seeded LC State Warriors split the regular season against the Owls with an 73-54 victory in Lewiston in February and 80-65 loss on the road in January.
No. 3 Seed – LC State Warriors (24-5, 17-5)
The Warriors used a dominant second half to defeat Bushnell 75-49 on Wednesday. Sitara Byrd led LC State with 15 points and Mataya Green tied her career-high with 11 rebounds. Tatum Brager tallied 14 points off the bench with four 3-pointers.
LC State has been one of the best ball handling teams in the NAIA this season and leads the CCC in blocked shots per game (4.8), assists per game (17.5), steals per game (12.9) and turnover margin (7.0). The Warriors have also been a challenging defense for opposing teams and currently rank second in scoring defense (54.2), field goal percentage defense (.361) and scoring margin (20.5).
Ellie Sander and Darian Herring have been key to the Warriors’ success on both sides of the ball. Senior Sander leads the conference in steals with 90 and is LC State’s leading scorer with 13.3 points per game. Herring leads the CCC in blocks this season with 77 and is one away from tying LC State’s single-season record. She also leads the Warriors in assists (104) and rebounding (6.5 per game).
Herring ranks second in the CCC in field goal percentage at .561 with Sander in fourth (.535) and Mataya Green in fifth (.506). The Warrior women have been a balanced scoring team all season long with three players averaging more than 10 points per game. Byrd is second on the team with 10.9 points per game and Herring is averaging 10.4. Byrd leads the Warrior women in 3-point field goal percentage and is sixth in the conference at .421. She has been key on defense as well with 5.8 boards per contest and 72 steals.
Despite missing a few games due to injury, junior Payton Hymas is just five assists behind Herring with 99 on the year and is third in the CCC with 4.1 assists per game. She has stepped up her scoring output lately and is currently averaging 9.3 points per game.
LC State defeated OIT in Lewiston behind 15 points from Byrd with three 3-pointers. Sander scored 11 with four steals. In the loss at Oregon Tech, Brager scored 14 points to lead with team and hit four 3-pointers.
No. 2 Seed – Oregon Tech Owls (23-6, 18-4)
The OIT Owls defeated seventh-seeded Corban (Ore.) to advance to the semifinal by a score of 69-52. Jozie Ramos scored an impressive 32 points and Tatum Schmerbach notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Oregon Tech shot 51.0% from the field but just 22.2% from 3-point range.
OIT leads the conference in rebounding with 45.4 per game as well as rebounding margin (12.4). Gabbie Gascon, out for the season due to injury, led the CCC in assists per game (4.6) and Schmerbach is currently second (4.4). Ramos is third in field goal percentage (.548).
Ramos led OIT in scoring in Lewiston with 17 points. Schmerbach led the Owls in the victory in Klamath Falls with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double.
THE DETAILS
The CCC semifinal contest is set for Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. in Klamath Falls, Ore. The winner will advance to the championship to face the winner of top-seeded No. 2 Southern Oregon and fifth-seeded College of Idaho.
