SWOSU (12-6, 9-3 GAC) at Arkansas Tech (9-8, 5-6 GAC)
Thursday, February 6, 5:30 pm
Russellville, Ark. (Tucker Coliseum)
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Setting the Stage
The Lady Bulldog basketball team will play five of their final eight regular season games away from home, starting with one road trip that has been quite unkind to SWOSU during brief existence of the Great American Conference. SWOSU will visit Arkansas Tech on Thursday to play the defending GAC Champions at 5:30 pm at Tucker Coliseum, a venue the Lady Bulldogs have suffered defeat at in each of the last two seasons.
SWOSU has won a season-high six straight games following their only back-to-back losses of the season and they've climbed near the top of the conference leaderboard, where they trail only Harding, who they will face on Saturday. Arkansas Tech has won three of their last five games after a five-game losing skid which included SWOSU's 89-71 victory over the Golden Suns.
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 70-59, but she is just 2-6 against Arkansas Tech, with one of the victories coming earlier this season in Weatherford.
Dave Wilbers is in his seventh season as the head coach at Arkansas Tech, with a record of 160-44 to date. He has led the Golden Suns to the NCAA Tournament five times in his first six seasons with the school.
Last Time Out
The SWOSU women's basketball team was held two touchdowns below their season scoring average, but a stellar defensive effort made certain the Lady Bulldogs were not tested by Arkansas-Monticello. SWOSU completed the season sweep of the Cotton Blossoms with a 72-46 win on Saturday afternoon at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
SWOSU held UAM to just 46 points on 27.1% (16-of-59) shooting while allowing the Blossoms just 2-of-15 (13.3%) shooting from 3-point range. Those numbers enabled the Lady Bulldogs to cruise to their sixth straight victory despite what would be classified as an off night offensively for SWOSU.
Taryn Sayama came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting, leading the way for a SWOSU offense which connected on 30-of-70 (42.9%) field goal attempts, but just 7-of-27 (25.9%) 3-pointers.
Kylie Boggess also came off the bench and recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Michelle Fisher was held below 10 points for just the second time this season, but her nine points moved her into a tie for fifth-place in SWOSU history for points scored. Fisher has a current total of 1,244 points scored in her career, a mark that equals Paige Adams (2002-05) in the Lady Bulldog record books. It was also a memorable night for Fisher because she grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, the most by a SWOSU player this season.
Last Time vs Arkansas Tech (January 4, 2014)
Kylie Boggess scored a career-high 22 points and notched her fourth career double-double with 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a big 89-71 victory over Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon.
Michelle Fisher,
Sarah Mendoza and
Taryn Sayama all joined Boggess in double figures as SWOSU picked up their first win over Arkansas Tech in their last five meetings. Fisher, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, set a new SWOSU career-record for three-point field goals made when she connected on the 179th deep ball of her career with 7:48 to play in the game. She surpassed former teammate
MaRiah Oyler, who had 178 three's in her career from 2009-12.
Mendoza finished with 12 points and put pressure on the Arkansas Tech defense from the start. She was 2-of-7 from the field but connected on all eight of her free throw attempts. Sayama scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, chipping in 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
SWOSU shot 43.8% (28-of-64) from the field and connected on 13-of-28 (46.4%) three pointers to improve to 3-1 in conference play.
Checking the Standings
Six straight wins has vaulted the Lady Bulldogs into second place in the Great American Conference, two games behind top-ten ranked Harding. At 9-3, SWOSU has a one-game lead over Southeastern Oklahoma State, who is currently holding down third place. Arkansas Tech is currently 5-6 in conference play, good for seventh place in the standings.
Scouting the Opponent
After starting the season 6-1, the Golden Suns have struggled of late, winning just three of their last 10 games. All three wins, however, have come in the last five games following a five-game losing streak and ATU is coming off a 71-67 victory over Southern Nazarene last Saturday. Arkansas Tech is 6-3 at home for the year, with a 3-2 conference home record.
Arkansas Tech is the third-highest scoring team in the GAC, putting up 74.9 points per game but they have only scored 70 or more points three times in the last 11 games, including a 71-point effort in an 89-71 SWOSU victory over the Golden Suns last month in Weatherford. Defensively, ATU also ranks third in the conference by allowing just 64.5 points per game to their opponents and their +10.5 points per game scoring margin trails only Harding among conference foes.
Cara Neighbors is the leading scorer for ATU, averaging 13.2 points per game while Anissa Pounds (12.5 ppg) and Jacinda Myers-Sanders (11.7) are also helping with the scoring load. Caroline Eubanks averages 7.8 rebounds per game, ranking fourth in the conference, while Neighbors is second in the GAC in assists (3.6/game) and third in steals (2.2/game)
Quick Hits
- SWOSU will be looking for their first season sweep of Arkansas Tech since the team's joined the Great American Conference
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Michelle Fisher upped her career scoring total to 1,244 after a nine-point outing on Saturday. She is now tied for fifth on the all-time list with Paige Adams (2002-05), needing 142 points to get to fourth place (1,516, Jackie Snodgrass, 1988-92)
- The Lady Bulldogs have outrebounded four of their last five opponents after starting the season by outrebounding just three of their first 13 opponents
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Kylie Boggess recorded her second double-double of the season on Saturday against UAM with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Her first double-double was a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds against Arkansas Tech on January 4
- SWOSU ranks third nationally in scoring offense (85.4 points per game) and three-point field goals per game (9.2)
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Sarah Mendoza ranks fourth in the GAC in assists, averaging 3.3 per game, and assist:turnover ratio of 1.8 is the best among players in the conference
Looking Ahead
SWOSU will look to avenge their worst defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon when they continue the road trip with a meeting against No. 8 Harding in Searcy, Ark.
