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Southern Arkansas (9-8, 5-6 GAC) at SWOSU (10-6, 7-3 GAC) Thursday, January 30, 5:30 pm Weatherford, Okla. (Pioneer Cellular Event Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio Social Media: @SWOSUAthletics on Twitter or Tweet #BulldogPride SWOSU Game Notes

Setting the Stage
      The Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team is the hottest team in the Great American Conference and they will carry a four-game winning streak into the second half of conference play after defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State last Saturday.
      The Lady Bulldogs will put the ball in play for the second time at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center on Thursday when they go for the season sweep of Southern Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. SWOSU enters the game 10-6 (7-3 GAC) and tied for second place in the GAC while Southern Arkansas is on a two-game winning streak that pushed their record over the .500 mark to 9-8 (5-6 GAC).
 
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 68-59 and she is 5-0 against Southern Arkansas after the Lady Bulldogs win in Magnolia earlier this season.
      Rusty Rainbolt is in his first season as the head women's basketball coach at Southern Arkansas and he is just the fifth head coach in program history. Prior to becoming the head women's basketball coach at SAU, Rainbolt served the three seasons in the same role at NCAA Division III-affiliated Concordia University Texas in Austin, where he amassed a record of 54-24.
 
Last Time Out
      A new backdrop had no effect on Sarina Sayama and the Southwestern Oklahoma State University women's basketball team as Sayama connected on a career-high eight three pointers in helping the Lady Bulldogs rout Northwestern Oklahoma State 87-68 on Saturday night at the brand new Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
      Sayama – the reigning GAC Player of the Week – might be due a repeat performance after going over 20 points in each of this week's games, which included a game-high 26 points on Saturday night. Her eight made three-pointers left her one shy of the single-game school record of nine, held by Lisa McMullen from a game in 1995.
      Michelle Fisher also had a big game for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while knocking down 4-of-9 3-pointers, giving her 193 for her career. SWOSU combined to knock down 15-of-37 threes in the game, with Chelsea Bates and Kylie Boggess also knocking down shots from long range.
      The Lady Bulldogs defended Northwestern well, allowing the Lady Rangers to shoot 42.2% (27-of-64) from the field while holding them to 4-of-18 (22.2%) shooting from outside. SWOSU also forced 18 Northwestern turnovers, including 10 off steals, while blocking a season-high seven shots as a team.
      In addition, SWOSU won the rebounding battle 43-to-40 with Jessica Penner leading the way with seven boards off the bench. Two players, Jonae Isaac and Kamera Bozeman, scored in double figures for NWOSU, scoring 18 and 17 points, respectively, off the bench for the Lady Rangers.
 
Last Time vs Southern Arkansas (November 23, 2013)
      Two days after a record-setting offensive effort, the SWOSU women's basketball team struggled shooting the ball but still managed to score 76 points in a 76-62 victory over Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.
      The Lady Bulldogs connected on just 37.3% (25-of-67) of their field goal attempts but got 10 three pointers – including five from Sarina Sayama – to help them past the Muleriders. Sayama scored a team-high 17 points off the bench and was one of four players from SWOSU to reach double figures in scoring.
      SWOSU raced out to a 37-20 lead at the break and pushed their lead to 20 early in the second half before SAU went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 11 at 42-31. The Lady Bulldogs weathered the storm, however, with baskets from Jessica Penner, Michelle Fisher and Kimmi Sawatzky as part of a 7-2 spurt. SAU did manage to get the lead into single digits once in the second half, but four straight points from Jaimee Cohen put SWOSU up 57-45 with 9:47 to play and the Muleriders would get no closer.
      Fisher was held to a season-low in scoring but still put up 12 points while Sarah Mendoza and Sawatzky also reached double figures by hitting for 10 points apiece. Sayama also led SWOSU with eight rebounds, even though the Lady Dawgs were outrebounded by the Muleriders.
 
Checking the Standings
      Winners of four straight, the Lady Bulldogs are now the hottest team in the Great American Conference following Saturday's victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State. SWOSU has improved to 10-6 on the year and 7-3 in GAC action, staying tied with Southeastern for second place in the standings, two losses behind first-place Harding, the No. 8-ranked team in NCAA Division II. Southern Arkansas also enters on a win streak, earning back-to-back victories to improve to 5-6 in conference action, one-half game behind Southern Nazarene for sixth place in the standings. 
 
Say What? Sayama Makes it Back-to-Back
       Two more 20-plus point performances and a pair of wins for the SWOSU women's basketball team has helped Sarina Sayama earn her second straight Great American Conference's Player of the Week award. The conference office announced the weekly honors on Monday morning.
      Sayama, who has now scored in double figures in five straight games, extended her streak of 20-plus point scoring efforts to three by putting up 23 points against Southern Nazarene and 26 on Saturday against Northwestern Oklahoma State. She connected on 12-of-22 (54.5%) 3-pointers for the week, including an 8-of-13 performance against NWOSU that left her one three shy of the single-game school record.
      In two games, Sayama averaged 24.5 points per game on 56.3% (18-of-32) field goal shooting while continuing her hot shooting from 3-point range. She has upped her season scoring average from 9.5 to 13.3 points per game since joining the starting lineup six games ago.
      After not having a GAC Player of the Week named once during the first two months of the season, Sayama has now earned back-to-back honors and she joins Kristen Celsor of Harding as the only players to garner conference honors multiple times this season.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      Southern Arkansas has rebounded well from a winless 2011-12 season, improving to 9-8 last weekend with victories over Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita Baptist. The wins snapped a four-game conference losing streak. SAU leads the conference in steals, averaging 11.8 per game, despite allowing 72.1 points per game to their opponents.
      Chanel Miller is the leading scorer for SAU, averaging 15.4 points per game but no other player for the Muleriders is scoring above 10 points per game. Mariam Ridgwell is averaging 7.2 points per game for SAU while shooting 56.5% from the field, the fourth-best mark in the Great American Conference.
 
Quick Hits
- The Lady Bulldogs have upped their season scoring average to 86.2 points per game, the third-best mark in NCAA Division II
- Sarina Sayama has scored more than 20 points in three straight games, making her the only SWOSU player to accomplish that feat this season
- Michelle Fisher has scored 1,224 points in her career at SWOSU, ranking seventh in Lady Bulldog history. She needs 21 points to move into fifth on the list, ahead of Muriel Brown (1,242) and Paige Adams (1,244)
- SWOSU has outrebounded two of their last three opponents
- Sarah Mendoza (3.1) and Chelsea Bates (2.8) both rank in the top 10 in the GAC in assists/game
 
Looking Ahead
     SWOSU hosts Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon before hitting the road to Arkansas Tech and Harding next weekend.