Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-11, 4-5 GAC) at SWOSU (9-6, 6-3 GAC)
Saturday, January 25, 5:30 pm
Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center)
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Setting the Stage
The highly anticipated debut of the brand new Pioneer Cellular Event Center will take place on Saturday evening at 5:30 pm as the Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team welcomes in longtime rival Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Lady Bulldogs swept the season series against the Lady Rangers last season, including an 80-66 win at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse last February.
Both teams enter the game with three-game winning streaks after SWOSU defeated Southern Nazarene on Thursday night. The Lady Bulldogs have risen back towards the top of the GAC standings at 6-3 while Northwestern has won four of their six games since Christmas break after starting the season 0-9.
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 67-59 and she is 2-0 against Northwestern Oklahoma State after the Lady Bulldogs swept the season series last year.
Eric Bozeman is in his second season as the women's basketball coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State following 12 seasons as a Division II men's basketball head coach and seven more as a Division I men's assistant. His record at Northwestern over the past two seasons is 10-31.
Last Time Out
Sarina Sayama scored 23 points and four others chipped in 10 or more points as the Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team claimed their third straight victory, a 96-83 decision over Southern Nazarene on Thursday at the Sawyer Center.
Sayama scored 20 points in the opening half, helping SWOSU turn an early 24-17 deficit into a 59-48 halftime advantage. The 59 first-half points is the second-most this season by the Lady Bulldogs, who took a 60-40 lead to the break against Arkansas-Monticello.
The Lady Bulldogs connected on 36-of-74 (48.6%) field goal attempts and they topped the 90-point scoring mark for the sixth time this season and the third consecutive game. In addition to Sayama's game-high 23 points, four other Lady Bulldogs reached double figures including
Jessica Penner, who scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in her first appearance off the bench this season.
Michelle Fisher added 15 points and seven rebounds for SWOSU, connecting on 6-of-15 field goal attempts but being held without a three pointer for the just the second time this season.
Jaimee Cohen scored a career-best 13 points in her first start of the season and
Kylie Boggess also reached double figures with 10 points.
Last Time vs Northwestern Oklahoma State (February 28, 2013)
With the regular season winding down,
Elizabeth Lay and MaRiah and
SaRaya Oyler knew they were playing in their final game at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse on Thursday night and the Southwestern Oklahoma State University seniors did not disappoint.
Lay scored a team-high 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds, all in 18 minutes of action, while MaRiah scored 12 points and SaRaya 11 to lead SWOSU past Northwestern Oklahoma State 80-66.
Kimmi Sawatzky chipped in 13 points off the bench and
Michelle Fisher added 12 for the Lady Dawgs, who close the regular season 21-5 and 16-4 in the Great American Conference.
After trading buckets in the early going, SWOSU really took control of the game in the middle of the first half thanks to some timely baskets from
SaRaya Oyler and Sawatzky. The two players combined for 17 first-half points and gave SWOSU a 37-25 lead at the break.
SWOSU cruised for most of the second half, with the lead never creeping into single digits and growing as high as 21 twice, the final one at 61-40 on a 3-pointer from Fisher with to play. The Lady Dawgs connected on 45.6% (26-57) field goal attempts and 37.9% (11-29) of their shots from downtown. They also reached the 80-point plateau for the 13th time in 20 conference games this season.
Checking the Standings
Thursday's win at Southern Nazarene helped the Lady Bulldogs keep pace with Southeastern Oklahoma State for second place in the Great American Conference standings at 6-3. The victory was also the third straight for SWOSU this season after dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season at Southeastern and East Central. The Lady Bulldogs will host Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, a team that is also riding a three game win streak. The Lady Rangers are 4-5 in conference play, tied for seventh place in the GAC standings with Arkansas Tech.
Player of the Week
SWOSU's
Sarina Sayama has been named the Great American Conference Player of the Week after helping her Lady Bulldog team to two much-needed conference victories last week. The award was announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
Sayama, who has been in the starting lineup for the past four games, scored 17 points against Henderson State on Thursday, helping the Lady Bulldogs snap a two-game losing skid with a 90-82 victory over the Lady Reddies. She topped that performance on Saturday against Ouachita Baptist, scoring a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting – including 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range – as SWOSU turned in a winning 93-72 performance against the Tigers.
Sayama continued her hot streak on Thursday against Southern Nazarene, scoring 20 first-half points against the Crimson Storm and putting up a game-high 23 for the game. She improved her season average to 12.4 points per game, the second-best mark on the team.
Scouting the Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State opened the 2013-14 season, the team's second as a member of the Great American Conference, with nine consecutive losses but since the turn of the calendar to 2014, the Lady Rangers have won four of their last six games, including three straight. NWOSU has defeated Arkansas Tech, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State this month with close losses against Harding and East Central, improving their season record to 4-11.
NWOSU is the lowest scoring team in the GAC, averaging just 62.6 points per game with no players currently averaging double figures in scoring. They are led by Kamera Bozeman, who averages 9.9 points per game, but beyond her no player is scoring more than 6.8 points per game. Bozeman is very efficient offensively, shooting a conference-leading 61.2% (60-of-98) from the field.
Quick Hits
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Kylie Boggess blocked a career-high four shots against Southern Nazarene, the most by a SWOSU player in a single game this season
- Thursday's 96-point scoring output against Southern Nazarene was the third straight game of 90+ points by the Lady Dawgs, the sixth this season and the 20th such occurrence under head coach
Kelsi Musick
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Sarina Sayama has scored 20+ points in back-to-back games, joining
Michelle Fisher as the only players to accomplish the feat this season
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Jessica Penner came off the bench for the first time this season against Southern Nazarene and responded by scoring a career-high 16 points
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Chelsea Bates set a new season high with 7 assists against SNU, tying
Sarah Mendoza (vs. Northeastern State, Nov. 13) for the most by a Lady Bulldog this season
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Michelle Fisher eclipsed the 1,200-point mark for her career against SNU and she currently ranks seventh in all-time scoring at SWOSU with 1,203 career points
- SWOSU tied a season high with 5 blocked shots against SNU on Thursday, the Lady Dawgs previously swatted five shots against Central Oklahoma on November 27
Looking Ahead
SWOSU has two more home games next weekend, facing Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello, before playing five of their final eight games on the road.
