Setting the Stage
Rankin Williams Fieldhouse will be the setting for two more games for the Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team and the Lady Bulldogs hope it will be the site where their first two-game losing skid of the 2013-14 season is snapped. SWOSU suffered back-to-back defeats last weekend against Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central while using an altered lineup due to injuries to key players.
The Lady Bulldogs welcome in Henderson State, the third-place team in the Great American Conference at 4-2. SWOSU swept the Lady Reddies last season and have won four straight against HSU overall.
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 64-59 and she is 4-2 against Henderson State.
Jill Thomas is in her first season as the head coach at Henderson State after taking over the program last April. Prior to HSU, Thomas spent four seasons as head coach at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina from 2009 to 2013. She is 9-3 this season at Henderson State and 74-51 in four+ years as a head coach.
Last Time Out
The SWOSU women's basketball team was held 23 points below their season average, scoring a season-low 63 points in a 73-63 defeat against East Central at Kerr Activities Center on Saturday.
After trailing by one point at the break, the Lady Bulldogs struggled to convert from the field in the second half. SWOSU connected on just 8-of-33 field goals in the second half and they were outscored 40-31 by the Tigers after halftime.
Michelle Fisher was again the most effective player for SWOSU's offense, scoring 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting while knocking down just one three pointer in five attempts.
Sarina Sayama scored 13 points in the defeat while
Jessica Penner added six points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a full 40 minutes of action.
Four players scored in double figures for East Central, who defeated SWOSU in Ada for the first time in four seasons. The Tigers hit just 36.5% (27-of-74) field goals but put down nine three pointers and had 19 offensive rebounds, giving them ample opportunities against the Lady Dawgs defense.
Last Time vs Henderson State (March 7, 2013)
The Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in their opening game of the Great American Conference tournament, a 69-59 victory over No. 7 seeded Henderson State. The victory puts SWOSU into the semifinals of the tournament where they will face Harding, a winner over SEOSU earlier on Thursday.
First Team All-GAC selection
Michelle Fisher paced the Lady Dawgs, scoring 12 points in the first half to help SWOSU build a 34-24 lead at the break after leading by as many as 13 in the opening stanza. Fisher stayed in attack mode during the second half and converted several tough driving baskets and finished with 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field while attempting just three three-point attempts, connecting on one.
The Lady Reddies full-court pressure defense and work on the glass never allowed SWOSU to pull away in the game until late and Henderson State got as close as six at 51-45 with just over nine minutes to play in the game. Fisher and
Elizabeth Lay combined to score the next six points for SWOSU to get the lead back up into double figures at 55-45 with 8:26 to play.
SWOSU still struggled to keep Henderson State off the backboards down the stretch, but the Lady Reddies were unable to capitalize on their multiple shots at the basket on several possessions. HSU's last push got them within seven at 64-57 with 1:57 to play, but Fisher answered it with a bucket of her own and SWOSU hit three-of-four free throws in the final minute of the game to seal the victory at 69-59.
Checking the Standings
Consecutive defeats last weekend dropped the Lady Bulldogs back to .500 in conference play at 3-3 and into a tie with Southern Arkansas for sixth place. Since the inception of the Great American Conference in the 2011-12 season, the only time SWOSU has had a record below .500 in conference play was after losing their inaugural GAC game at Henderson State on January 5, 2012. A victory over the Lady Reddies on Thursday night will be needed to keep that from happening again.
Henderson State is in third place at 4-2 in conference play but two games behind Harding who is still unbeaten at 15-0 (7-0 GAC) on the year and ranked No. 6 in the nation. The Lady Bisons have a two-game lead on the rest of the Great American Conference.
Scouting the Opponent
After finishing tied for seventh in the Great American Conference last season with an 8-12 conference record, Henderson State has undergone one of the best turnarounds in the conference. The Lady Reddies are currently tied for third in the GAC at 4-2 and they have non-conference victories over Texas A&M-Commerce, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Missouri S&T.
HSU is averaging 71.5 points per game, the sixth-best mark in the GAC, behind the efforts of the conference's top scorer, Aungelique Sledge. Sledge, GAC Co-Player of the Week on January 6, leads the GAC and ranks 10th nationally with a 22.6 points per game average and she is the top 3-point shooter in the conference, hitting 44-of-98 (44.9%) long range attempts this season. She is also one of the best defenders in the GAC, averaging 3.3 steals per game. Krystal Beachum is HSU's other top scorer, averaging 11.8 ppg, while Dulincia Keener and Tiara Davis both rank near the top of the GAC in rebounding with more than 7.0 per game.
One Week from Pioneer Cellular Event Center
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
- Thursday's matchup will feature the top two 3-point shooters in the GAC: HSU's Aungelique Sledge & SWOSU's
Michelle Fisher
- Lady Bulldogs have not lost three straight games since late in the 2011-12 season
- SWOSU will be looking for their fifth consecutive victory over Henderson State
-
Jaimee Cohen has scored at least five points and grabbed at least five rebounds in each of the last three games
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Michelle Fisher and
Jessica Penner are the only two Lady Bulldogs to start all 12 games this season and both players played all 40 minutes against East Central on Saturday
Looking Ahead
After facing Ouachita Baptist on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Southern Nazarene next Thursday before the opening of Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Jan. 25 against Northwestern.
