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SWOSU Classic No. 1 Emporia State (0-0) vs. SWOSU (0-0) Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Friday, November 13, 5:30 p.m. Missouri Southern State (0-0) vs. SWOSU (0-0) Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Saturday, November 14, 5:30 p.m. Watch Live | Listen Live (Saturday Only) | Live Stats SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
- The Lady Bulldogs open the 2015-16 season with a pair of tough matchups from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) in the SWOSU Classic, taking on No. 1-ranked Emporia State and Missouri Southern State
- SWOSU takes on Emporia State on Friday, November 13 at 5:30 p.m. inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- Action resumes on Saturday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m. against Missouri Southern

The Opponents
No. 1 Emporia State (0-0)
- No. 1 Emporia State finished last season with a 29-5 record, reaching the Final Four before bowing out to California (PA), 51-46
- The Lady Hornets return two of their top three scorers from last year in the form of Kelly Moten and Addie Lackey. Moten led all ESU players with 14.9 points per game while also handing out a team-leading 3.1 assists per game. Lackey chipped in with 9.6 PPG, and led the team with a .393 3-point percentage
- Leading rebounder Kathryn Flott also returns for ESU. She 6.5 per night, and also led the team with 65 offensive rebounds
- The Lady Hornets lost to Kansas, 67-58, in their only exhibition contest this season. Moten led the team with 19 points, and Sandra Ngoie was second on the team with 10 points. Ngoie led Emporia in 3-point shooting at 2-of-6

Missouri Southern State (0-0)
- Missouri Southern State went 20-7 last season, clinching their first 20-win season in almost two decades before bowing out in the first round of the MIAA Tournament
- Leading scorer Sharese Jones returns after putting up 13.7 point per outing a season ago. She also led the team in rebounds, averaging 7.3 per contest
- Tami Morice shot lights out from long range, hitting 50-of-110 last year
- MSSU fell to Arkansas in exhibition action, 73-52. Jones and Deb Holcomb led the Lions with 11 and 10 points respectively. Holcomb and Kenya Wilson-Brown each collected a team-high six boards

The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (90-80; 7th season)    
- Kelsi Musick is in her seventh season leading the SWOSU women's basketball program
- The two-time GAC Coach of the Year has been the model of consistency, winning GAC Tournament titles in two of the last three years and earning back-to-back NCAA Division II National Tournaments
- A great developer of talent, Musick has coached one All-American and 11 all-GAC selections, including one Player of the Year recipient
- Musick has also spent time as an assistant coach at Fresno State, where they won two Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, as well as qualified for the NCAA Division I National Tournament in the 2008-09 season

No. 1 Emporia State: Jory Collins (125-36; 6th season)
- Jory Collins enters his sixth season at the helm of the Lady Hornets basketball program
- He has led his team to the NCAA Division II Tournament four times, reaching the Elite 8 last year. Collins has won the last two MIAA Tournament titles
- Collins has served on the ESU coaching staff since the 2000-01 season when he was a student-assistant

Missouri Southern State: Ronda Hubbard (39-15; 3rd season)
- Ronda Hubbard returns for a third season in charge of the Lions' women's basketball program
- Hubbard has led the Lions to back-to-back MIAA Tournaments in her first two seasons in charge, and also directed MSSU to their first 20-win season in almost two decades last year
- She has also had coaching stops at Texas-Pan American, Southwest Baptist and Springfield (Mo.) Catholic High School

Last Time Out
- The Lady Bulldogs fell in their only game of the exhibition season to Division I power Oklahoma, 111-73
- Jennifer Williams led the way with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including two makes from distance. She also chipped in with three rebounds and had one assist in 19 minutes of action
- Jade Jones was the only other Lady Dawg to reach double figures, pouring in 12 points with six rebounds and dishing out a team-best four assists. Janae Coffee led all SWOSU players with seven rebounds, including two on the offensive glass

GAC Preseason Poll
- The Lady Dawgs were picked to finish third in the GAC preseason coaches poll with 92 points. It's the second straight year SWOUS has been picked third in the preseason poll
- Reigning champion Arkansas Tech collected 10 first-place votes and received 120 points overall and are the favorites to win the league. Harding entered the poll in second place after taking 103 points and the other two first-place votes
- Arkansas-Monticello is one point shy of SWOSU in fourth place with 91 points, while Southeastern Oklahoma State is not far behind in fifth place after receiving 89 points in the poll
- The rest of the poll in order: Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Baptist, East Central, Southern Arkansas and Southern Nazarene 
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU returns three starters, and seven players overall, from last season's squad that finished sixth in the GAC
- The second-leading scorer from a year ago, Jessica Penner returns after averaging 11.5 points per game and a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game. Korina Chapman (9.9 PPG, 8.5 RPG) and Jade Jones (9.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG) are other starters returning for SWOSU
- Other key returners for SWOSU include Kylie Franz (9.0, 6.1), Morgan Vogt (6.6, 2.3) and Williams (8.7, 2.5)
- Hailey Tucker, making her Lady Bulldogs debut against Oklahoma, led SWOSU in three-point attempts and makes in exhibition action, shooting 3-of-11
-SWOSU's 73 points were the most against a Division I opponent under head coach Kelsi Musick

Looking Ahead
- The conference schedule starts early with a tough contest against No. 18 Arkansas Tech in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center at 5:30 p.m. on November 19
- The Lady Dawgs have gone 1-3 against the Golden Suns the last two seasons, with their last victory coming on January 4, 2014, 89-71. Franz turned in a career performance, scoring 22 points