Setting the Stage- SWOSU travels down the road to Bethany, Okla., to face Southern Nazarene in the Sawyer Center on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 PM
- The Lady Bulldogs will look to rebound after a tough loss to rival Northwestern Oklahoma State last week
- The last time SWOSU and the Crimson Storm met was Dec. 13, 2014 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center with SNU emerging 74-65 winners after a second half cold streak seized the Lady Dawgs
The OpponentSouthern Nazarene (6-11, 3-8 GAC)- The Crimson Storm are 1-5 in January, most recently falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State on the road 83-59 on Monday night. Their most recent win came at the expense of Ouachita Baptist on Jan. 15, topping the Lady Tigers 61-58
- Southern Nazarene are averaging 64.5 points per game and rank seventh in the Great American Conference in scoring. They are paced by Aminata Fall who is putting up 20.8 PPG and ranks 16th in NCAA Division II. Abby Boyd is second on the team, and ranks ninth in the GAC, with 13.0 PPG
- SNU has the eighth-ranked scoring defense, allowing opponents to light up the scoreboard for 70.1 PPG for a scoring margin of -5.5. They boasts the second-best field goal defense, with the opposition hitting just 36.6 percent of their shots, but rank seventh in 3-point field goal defense at 31.3 percent
- Pulling down 40.8 rebounds per game, the Crimson Storm ranks third in the category among GAC teams. They hold a +1.8 rebounding margin on their opponents and are led by Fall who ranks 12th nationally with 11.9 RPG
- The squad ranks second nationally in blocked shots, averaging 7.6 per game. Fall leads the way, and ranks third in Division II individually, with 4.4 BPG
- SNU struggles to take care of the ball at times, holding the worst turnover margin in the conference at -4.53 while averaging a GAC-high 19.6 turnovers per game
The CoachesSWOSU: Kelsi Musick (83-76, 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
Southern Nazarene: Derek Dorris (33-24, 3rd season)- Derek Dorris is in his third season leading the SNU women's basketball program
- He led the Crimson Storm to a sixth place conference finish last season after going 9-11 in GAC competition
- Dorris also directed Southern Nazarene to a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship in his first season. He also named NCCAA Coach of the Year after leading the Crimson Storm to a 17-3 record in their final 20 games in his first season
- Prior to taking the post at SNU, where he is an alumnus, Dorris held coaching positions at Southmoore (Okla.) and Bethany (Okla.) High Schools. During his time amongst the high school ranks, he collected a 152-73 record and earned multiple berths to the area tournament
Last Time Out- SWOSU made the trip up to Alva, Okla., to play in-state rival Northwestern, falling 61-31 last Thursday night
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Jennifer Williams helped keep the Lady Dawgs close in the first half, pouring in 11 points to go into the half down 24-21
- The Lady Bulldogs would score just twice from the field in the second half as the Lady Rangers came out on top
- It was the first time SWOSU had lost to Northwestern since 1995
Checking the Standings- SWOSU (5-11, 2-8 GAC) dropped to tenth with the loss, one spot above 11th place Southern Arkansas (4-13, 2-9 GAC) who is riding a conference-worst nine-game losing streak
- Harding (15-2, 11-0 GAC) claimed sole possession of first place after downing Arkansas Tech (15-2, 10-1 GAC) 74-61 last Thursday night. East Central (12-5, 8-3 GAC) sits behind ATU in third place
- Southeastern (13-6, 6-5 GAC) broke a four-game losing skid with a victory over the Crimson Storm and are now tied with Arkansas-Monticello (8-8, 6-5 GAC) for fourth place
- NWOSU (6-11, 5-6 GAC) briefly sat at .500 in conference play last week and sit in sixth place with Henderson State (6-11, 4-7 GAC) one spot behind in seventh
- Southern Nazarene (6-11, 3-8 GAC) has dropped two straight and are now tied for eighth with Ouachita Baptist (7-11, 3-8)
SWOSU Notes- SWOSU scored just 31 points in the loss to Northwestern, setting a new program low for points scored in a game in the process. The old low mark was 35 points against Oklahoma during the 1978-79 season
- The Lady Dawgs boast the fourth-best offense in the conference, putting up 68.2 PPG.
Jessica Penner leads the team with 12.9 PPG and ranks tenth in the conference.
Chelsea Bates is right behind Penner with 12.8 PPG and is eleventh in the GAC
- After averaging 20.3 PPG in the four games leading up to last Thursday's game, Penner scored just three points in Alva
- Shooting has been a struggle for SWOSU this season, and they are shooting a league-worst 36.5 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from beyond the arc. However, Penner is hitting 63.0 percent of her shots from the field to lead the conference and ranks fourth in Division II
- Bates has done a good job finding her range the last three games, shooting 48.4 percent since facing Henderson State on Jan. 15. She has scored an average of 12.3 PPG over that same span
- Williams struggled to start the month, scoring just 4.3 PPG and grabbing 3.0 RPG. She's looked to start breaking out of her slump, putting up 7.0 PPG and 4.0 PRG over her last three games on an average of 21.3 minutes
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Morgan Vogt recorded on steal against NWOSU and ranks second on the team with 13
Looking Ahead- SWOSU returns home to take on East Central on Saturday, Jan. 31 inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center at 1 PM
- The SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducting three new members for the Class of 2015, with the inductees being introduced immediately after the game
