2014 Great American Conference Tournament Championship (3) SWOSU (18-10) vs. (1) #2 Harding (29-1) Saturday, March 9, 3:30 pm Bartlesville, Okla. (Bruin Fieldhouse) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes GAC Championship Central

Setting the Stage
      For the third straight season, the SWOSU women's basketball team will play for the Great American Conference tournament championship. The Lady Bulldogs defeated East Central 87-83 on Saturday, setting up a showdown with the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, Harding.
      The Lady Bisons were the only GAC team to sweep SWOSU this season, defeating the Lady Bulldogs by an average of more than 20 points per game. Harding will be looking for their first GAC Tournament crown after being eliminated from the tournament by SWOSU in both prior appearances.
      Harding is ranked first in the most recent Central Region rankings, so they are playing for a chance to host the regional tournament on their home court. SWOSU, on the flip side, needs a victory on Sunday to qualify for the regional for the second consecutive season. The Lady Bulldogs have not appeared in any regional rankings to date, meaning they need to win the tournament to claim the GAC's automatic bid into the national tournament.
 
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 77-64 and she is 4-4 against Harding, including wins over the Lady Bisons in each of the last two GAC Tournaments.
      Tim Kirby is in his ninth season as head women's basketball coach of the Lady Bisons. He has led Harding to seven straight conference tournament berths, including playing for the Great American Conference Championship in 2012, and he has a career record of 170-88 at HU.
 
Last Time Out
      Following her sister Sarina's effort on Friday, Taryn Sayama took the center stage in helping SWOSU fight off East Central in the Great American Conference semifinals on Saturday evening.
      Taryn scored 18 points in the second half, routinely slicing up the ECU defense for baskets, including the game-clincher with 32 seconds to play, giving SWOSU an 84-81 lead. East Central spent most of the second half cutting the Lady Bulldogs 21-point lead all the way down to one point at 82-81 in the final minute.
      It was then that Sayama made her final strike, getting into the lane for a lay-in that put SWOSU up three. After a defensive stop, Michelle Fisher pulled down fourth rebound of the night and went to the free throw line, where she calmly hit two free throws to put SWOSU back up five, 86-81.
      East Central made one final basket, but Sarah Mendoza hit 1-of-2 free throws to give SWOSU the 87-83 lead with four seconds to play and the Tigers final shot fell off as the Lady Bulldogs earned a return trip to the championship game.
      Sayama led the way with a game-high 24 points and four rebounds, finishing 10-of-19 from the field and 2-of-7 from 3-point range. Fisher also had another big game, scoring 18 points – and surpassing the 1,400-point mark for her career in the process – while playing the entire 40 minutes.
      All six of the other players who entered the game for SWOSU scored at least six points and grabbed at least two rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs also had 13 assists and got out in transition to outscore ECU 10-2 in fast break points.
 
SWOSU vs. East Central This Season
January 2 in Weatherford
      An unblemished and No. 12-ranked Harding squad handed the SWOSU women's basketball team their worse defeat of the season by a score of 95-69 on Thursday afternoon at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.
      The Lady Bulldogs were never able to get on track offensively, knocking down just 6-of-25 (24.0%) of their three point attempts while shooting 33.8% (24-of-71) from the field. Taryn Sayama and Michelle Fisher led SWOSU with 23 and 19 points, respectively, but needed a combined 41 shots to do so.
      On the flip side, Harding got a monster effort of 31 points and six rebounds from Kristen Celsor, who connected on 14-of-20 field goal attempts. Three other players for Harding scored in double figures and Arielle Saunders pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, the most by a SWOSU opponent this season.
 
February 8 in Searcy
      Michelle Fisher scored 29 points on Saturday and Taryn Sayama added 26, but it was not enough for the Lady Bulldogs to pull off an upset over No. 6-ranked Harding, who completed the season sweep of SWOSU with an 89-74 victory at Rhodes Field House.
      Fisher hit a pair of free throws with 3:46 to play in the first half to get SWOSU within four at 37-33, but Harding followed that with 10 straight points and they outscored the Lady Bulldogs 11-4 to round out the half and take a 48-37 lead to the break.
      SWOSU battled throughout, but were unable to get within 10 points of the Lady Bisons in the second half. Harding pushed their lead to 22 at 72-50 before the Lady Dawgs rallied back to get within 10 at 84-74 with one minute remaining before Harding finished the game off at the free throw line.
      Fisher and Sayama combined to score 55 points and lead the Lady Bulldogs in scoring while no other player scored more than eight points. Kylie Boggess struggled shooting the ball but she grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds, blocked three shots and dished out three assists.
 
Checking the Standings
      SWOSU tied with East Central for second place in the Great American Conference regular season standings but the Lady Bulldogs won the rubber match of the season series on Saturday to advance to the championship game. Harding was the runaway winner of the conference, holding a six-game lead on the field at the end of the regular season. The Lady Bisons are also ranked first in the Central Region and second nationally in the most recent WBCA Top 25 poll.
 
Scouting the Opponent
      After surviving a scare from 8th-seed Ouachita Baptist on Friday, Harding rebounded with a dominant 81-48 victory over Arkansas Tech on Saturday night in the tournament semifinals. The Lady Bisons have won 11 straight games since suffering their only defeat of the season, a 61-60 overtime loss at East Central at the end of January.
      Harding is the second-leading scoring team in the GAC, trailing only SWOSU with an average scoring output of 78.3 points per game. Defense is also a strength of the Lady Bisons, who are holding their opponents to just 58.8 points per game, giving them a scoring margin of +19.5, which ranks fourth nationally.
      Four players earned All-GAC honors for the Lady Bisons, including GAC Player of the Year and First Team All-GAC selection Kristen Celsor, the fifth-leading scorer and fourth-leading rebounder in the conference. Other all-conference players included second teamers Shana Holmes and Arielle Saunders along with honorable mention selection A'ndrea Haney, who was also tabbed the GAC Newcomer of the Year.
 
Quick Hits
- Michelle Fisher and Taryn Sayama are both averaging 14.5 points per game in the conference tournament to lead SWOSU, while Sarina Sayama has scored 28 points in the two games
- Fisher eclipsed the 1,400-point mark on Saturday night and she has now scored 1,416 points in her career. She is the fourth-leading scorer in SWOSU history
- SWOSU is 1-1 all-time in the GAC Tournament championship game and they are 7-1 overall at the event. The Lady Bulldogs are 2-0 against Harding in the tournament, eliminating the Lady Bisons in the finals in 2012 and the semifinals last season
- Fisher was named First Team All-GAC for the second consecutive season on Wednesday while Sarina Sayama earned honorable mention honors
- SWOSU finished the regular season ranked third in NCAA Division II in scoring offense, averaging 84.5 points per game, and second in 3-point shooting, making an average of 9.8 3-pointers per game
- Taryn Sayama (24.5 ppg) and Fisher (24.0) were the Lady Bulldogs two leading scorers against Harding this season. No other players for SWOSU averaged more than 10 points against HU.