Setting the Stage
Another road game awaits the Lady Bulldog basketball team on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Ada, Okla., to face East Central. After an 87-78 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday, SWOSU will be looking to avoid a second straight defeat and keep pace with the upper half of the Great American Conference.
At 3-2, SWOSU is tied for third in the standings, two games behind co-leaders Harding and Southeastern Oklahoma State. East Central is 8-5 on the year and 3-4 in GAC play, currently holding down the seventh spot in the GAC standings.
The Coaches
Kelsi Musick is in her fifth season leading the SWOSU women's basketball program. She has improved the teams win total in all four seasons she's been at SWOSU, taking the team from three wins her first season to 25 in her fourth year and she is the two-time defending Great American Conference Coach of the Year. Musick's career record at SWOSU is 64-58 and she is 6-3 against East Central.
Emily Holombek is serving as the interim women's basketball coach at East Central this year after spending a season as the assistant coach. Holombek has been either a graduate assistant coach or student-athlete for the Lady Tigers since the 2008-09 season with stints working for both the volleyball and women's basketball teams.
Last Time Out
A four-game SWOSU win streak against Southeastern Oklahoma State ended on Thursday night as the Savage Storm downed a short-handed Lady Bulldog squad 87-78.
SWOSU, playing without two starters, attempted a school-record 42 three pointers in the game, connecting on 10. The Lady Bulldogs shot 37.1% (26-of-70) from the field in the contest, but were unable to slow the Southeastern offense, which got 23 points from Emily Williams and a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds from Breana Small-Peppers.
Michelle Fisher played the entire 40 minutes for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting, which included connecting on 5-of-14 shots from downtown.
Sarah Mendoza scored 14 points for SWOSU while
Chelsea Bates had 15 points and a team-high four assists as she was called upon to make her second start of the season.
Last Time vs East Central (February 14, 2013)
After watching East Central battle back from a 12-point deficit to take a 68-66 lead, Southwestern Oklahoma State closed the game by scoring the final six points and claimed a crucial 72-68 win on Thursday evening in Ada.
Late in the game, each team had three chances to take the lead before ECU converted on a pair of free throws following a foul on
TaNita Dewberry with 1:32 to play, taking the lead 68-66. Dewberry then came back and tied the game at 68-68 on the next SWOSU possession with 1:18 to play.
After the SWOSU defense got a stop, Dewberry was fouled and went to the line with 35 seconds left and a chance to give the lead back to the Lady Dawgs. Dewberry misfired on both attempts, but
Kylie Boggess was there to grab the rebound and draw a foul, sending her to the line. Boggess, who finished with her second double-double of the year, knocked down both free throws and put SWOSU on top for good.
Boggess had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way for SWOSU, followed by Sawatzky and
SaRaya Oyler who each added 14.
Elizabeth Lay, making her second consecutive start, added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Dawgs.
Checking the Standings
Harding and Southeastern Oklahoma State both improved to 5-0 in GAC action on Thursday night, upping their lead over the remaining schools in the conference to two games. SWOSU is one of those teams two games back. The Lady Bulldogs are tied for third in the conference with Henderson State and Southern Arkansas.
Back and Forth
Outside of back-to-back road wins at Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas in late November, the SWOSU women have alternated wins and losses in every game this season. If that pattern holds true to form, the Lady Bulldogs are due a victory on Saturday against East Central, a team that SWOSU split with last season, but defeated 72-68 in Ada. The Lady Bulldogs have not lost consecutive games since last January when they went winless during a conference road trip to Harding and Arkansas Tech.
Scouting the Opponent
A 75-71 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night improved East Central to 8-5 on the season and 3-4 in GAC action. The Tigers have won three of their last four games and they are in the midst of a three-game homestand. ECU will provide another test for the potent SWOSU offense as the Tigers allow just 64.4 points per game while the Lady Dawgs continue to score it up at an 86.4 ppg clip.
Offensively, the Tigers are balanced with four players scoring more than 10 points per game for an offense that is putting up 68.1 points per game. Erin Walling and Alycea Price are the two leading scorers for ECU and Price is one of three players in the GAC to grab more than 100 rebounds so far this season.
Pioneer Cellular Event Center Update
It was announced on December 20 that the first event in the new Pioneer Cellular Event Center (PCEC) on the campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University will be January 20 when the West Central Basketball Tournament takes place throughout the week on the Weatherford campus.
SWOSU's men's and women's basketball teams will play their opening games in the PCEC on Saturday, January 25, when Northwestern Oklahoma State University comes to Weatherford for a 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. doubleheader.
Early Signees
Head Coach
Kelsi Musick announced that the Lady Bulldogs have signed two high school student-athletes – Jade Jones and Morgan Vogt – during the early fall signing period back in December.
Jones and Vogt both hail from the state of Oklahoma and they have earned various accolades, including all-state honors last season and both are preseason all-state and VYPE Top 100 selections heading into their senior seasons. Jones, a 5-6 guard from Pond Creek, and Vogt, a 5-8 guard from Okarche, will graduate next May and join the Lady Bulldogs for the 2014-15 season.
Quick Hits
-
Michelle Fisher and
Jessica Penner are the only two Lady Bulldogs to start all 11 games this season
- Alex Tucker of ECU and SWOSU's
Sarah Mendoza rank first and second in the GAC in assists, averaging 3.9 and 3.6 assists per game, respectively
- Lady Bulldogs have not lost consecutive games this season
- SWOSU will be looking for a victory over ECU in Ada for the fourth consecutive season
- Unbeaten and top-10 nationally ranked Colorado Mesa and Harding are the only teams to hold SWOSU to fewer than 75 points this season
Looking Ahead
SWOSU returns home for five of the next six games, starting with Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist next weekend at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.
