CORVALLIS, Ore. – After winning the 2021-22 Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season championship last year, Lewis-Clark State College was picked to repeat as the conference released the 2022-23 CCC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll Tuesday.
The Warriors grabbed six first-place votes to sit in the top spot with 137 points after finishing last year with a 28-5 overall record. After LC State grabbed one of the CCC’s two automatic qualifiers (AQs) to the NAIA tournament, the Warriors advanced to the Opening Round finale but lost to then-ranked No. 8 Wayland Baptist University.
Eastern Oregon University is right on LCSC’s tail on the poll, grabbing five first-place votes to sit just three points behind in second. The Mounties come off a solid year where they grabbed an at-large bid to nationals and finished the year with a 22-11 overall mark.
Southern Oregon University – which picked up one first-place vote and 123 points on the preseason poll – came up just short of a regular-season CCC championship last year but dominated the CCC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, to grab the conference’s second AQ. The Raiders finished with a 29-6 overall record and advanced to the round of 32 at the NAIA Championship Tournament.
Bushnell University (109 points) and Oregon Tech (86 points) round out the top-five teams on the preseason poll, sitting in fourth and fifth, respectively. College of Idaho followed with 76 points to sit in sixth, while Warner Pacific University earned 61 points to grab seventh on the list.
Corban University (55 points), Northwest University (54 points) and The Evergreen State College (52 points) filled in spots eight through 10 and were separated by just three points. Multnomah University (37 points) and Walla Walla University (12 points) closed out the poll in 11
th and 12
th, respectively.
The CCC conference season begins on Nov. 22, with the CCC Women’s Basketball Tournament tipping off on Feb. 22 at campus sites. The championship game will play out on Feb. 28, with the winner grabbing one of the CCC’s AQ to the NAIA Championship Tournament.
2022-23 CCC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Lewis-Clark State College (6) |
137 |
| 2. Eastern Oregon University (5) |
134 |
| 3. Southern Oregon University (1) |
123 |
| 4. Bushnell University |
109 |
| 5. Oregon Tech |
86 |
| 6. College of Idaho |
76 |
| 7. Warner Pacific University |
61 |
| 8. Corban University |
55 |
| 9. Northwest University |
54 |
| 10. The Evergreen State College |
52 |
| 11. Multnomah University |
37 |
| 12. Walla Walla University |
12 |
