Setting the Stage- The Lady Bulldogs remain on the road, this time taking the court against the Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms in Monticello, Ark., at 1 PM on Saturday in the Steelman Field House
The OpponentArkansas-Monticello (6-7, 4-4 GAC)- Arkansas-Monticello is 1-2 in January, but are 4-2 at home. They most recently played Northwestern Oklahoma State in Monticello and won 82-65
- The Cotton Blossoms hold the seventh-best offense in the Great American Conference, racking up 64.5 points per game. They are led by Jordan Goforth who ranks third in the GAC at 19.5 PPG and recently became the school's 18th player to reach 1000 points in a career in a loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State. Nikki Mullen is second on the team at 11.9 PPG and is 15th in the conference
- UAM has a scoring margin of +1.4 and are holding their opponents to just 63.1 PPG, ranking fourth in the conference. They have held their opponents to 40.5 percent shooting from the field, and rank in the bottom third of teams in 3-point shooting defense. The Blossoms also pack the paint well, and are second in the conference in blocked shots at 4.7 per game. Tori Nichols leads the team and is second in the GAC with 2.8 blocks per game
- The Cotton Blossoms have a rebounding margin of -1.0, grabbing just 35.3 rebounds per game. Goforth leads the team with 7.2 RPG and Nichols is second with 6.8
The CoachesSWOSU: Kelsi Musick (83-74, 6th season) -
Kelsi Musick is in her sixth season leading the SWOSU women's basketball program
- The two-time GAC Coach of the Year has been the model of consistency, winning GAC Tournament titles in two of the last three years and earning back-to-back NCAA Division II National Tournaments. SWOSU is one of only four teams in the Central Region that have reached the national tournament each of the last two seasons
- Her high-energy style of play has led the Lady Dawgs to rank in the top four in the nation in scoring, and top ten in three points made in each of the last three seasons
- A great developer of talent, Musick has coached one All-American and 11 all-GAC selections, including one Player of the Year recipient
- Musick has also spent time as an assistant coach at Fresno State, where they won two Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, as well as qualified for the NCAA Division I National Tournament in the 2008-09 season
Arkansas-Monticello: Tanya Ray (25-55, 4th season)- Tanya Ray became the seventh coach to lead the Arkansas-Monticello women's basketball program prior to the 2011-12 season and is entering her fourth year at the helm
- The team enjoyed their best season under Ray in her inaugural season, posting an 11-16 record
- She has twice lead the Cotton Blossoms to GAC Tournament berths, but has yet to get past the first round
- Prior to coming to UAM, Ray enjoyed a lengthy career at the NCAA Division I level as an assistant coach with stops at Arkansas State and Oklahoma State. She also has served as the assistant coach of Blinn College in the junior college ranks
Last Time Out- The Lady Bulldogs played their first of three straight road games, falling to Henderson State 85-72 in Arkadelphia, Ark., in GAC action on Thursday night
- The two teams played a tightly contested first half featuring eight lead changes and eight ties respectively, but the Lady Reddies finished the half holding a 44-42 lead over SWOSU
- Henderson State continued where they left off, pouring in the first eight points of the half and building a comfortable ten point cushion. SWOSU went cold by comparison, shooting 31.6 percent from the field and converting on just one of their 17 shots from long range
- Despite scoring on each of her first five shots early in the first half,
Jessica Penner got into foul trouble and would not take another shot for the remainder of the game
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Chelsea Bates finished with a season-high 26 points, including 15 points in the second half.
Jade Jones poured in 13 points and Penner chipped in with ten. Chapman led the team with 11 rebounds in the contest
- SWOSU did well finishing at the rim, scoring 46 of their 73 points in the paint. Bates led the way, going 10-14
- The Lady Dawgs assisted on a third of all their baskets last night, led by
Kassy Easter who dished out four assists
Checking the Standings- The loss to Henderson State moves SWOSU (5-9, 2-6 GAC) into a tie for ninth with Southern Arkansas (4-10, 2-6 GAC)
- Arkansas Tech (13-1, 8-0 GAC) and Harding (12-2, 8-0 GAC) remain tied at the top of the standings and are riding win streaks of five and eight games respectively
- East Central (10-4, 6-2 GAC) and Southeastern (12-4, 5-3 GAC) have both dropped their last two games in conference play, but remain in third and fourth place
- Arkansas-Monticello (6-7, 4-4 GAC) moved to .500 in conference play after defeating NWOSU on Thursday night and held steady at the fifth position. Northwestern (4-10, 3-5 GAC) is in sixth following the loss
- Southern Nazarene (6-9, 3-6 GAC) is tied with Henderson State (5-10, 3-6 GAC) for seventh after the latter jumped past SWOSU with the victory on Thursday night
- Ouachita Baptist (5-10, 1-7 GAC) remains alone at the bottom of the standings in 11th
SWOSU Notes- SWOSU ranks fourth in the conference in scoring at 71.7 PPG. Bates leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference, pouring in 13.9 PPG. Penner is second on the team with 13.2 PPG and ranks 11th in the conference
- Following her second night without a miss in the last three games, Penner ranks second in the GAC in field goal percentage at 63.2 percent
- The Lady Dawgs have struggled as a team to find their shots this season, however, and rank last in field goal percentage with 37.4 percent of their shots finding the bottom of the net. They also rank tenth in 3-point shooting at 27.0 percent
- Penner and
Korina Chapman have been strong on the glass this season, ranking in the Top Five in the category. Penner is third at 9.3 RPG and Chapman is fifth averaging 8.0 RPG
- Bates remains the standard for excellence for ball-handlers in the league. Her 1.9 assist/turnover ratio leads the conference, while she is second in the conference averaging 3.7 assists per game this season
- Since earning her first start against OBU,
Kassy Easter has done well finding her teammates in open spots has averaged 3.33 assists over that span of time
- As a team, SWOSU has assisted on 52.8 percent of their made baskets
- Road trips have not been kind to SWOSU this season. The team has recorded just one road win in eight tries this season
Looking Ahead- The road swing reaches its conclusion next Thursday, January 22 with the Lady Dawgs facing in-state rival NWOSU in Alva, Okla., at 5:30 PM inside the Purcefull Fieldhouse
