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SWOSU (7-3, 3-1 GAC) at Henderson State (4-6, 4-0 GAC) Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, 5:30 pm Arkadelphia, Ark. (Duke Wells Center) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Live Audio SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Great American Conference play resumes on Thursday evening as the SWOSU Women's Basketball team heads to the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Henderson State
- SWOSU enters the contest as winners in five of their last six games, improving to 7-3 on the year with a 90-81 win over USAO on Monday night in Weatherford
- The Lady Bulldogs are tied for third in the GAC standings at 3-1, with their only defeat at Harding, a team tied with Henderson State for first place in the league at 4-0
- Henderson State enters the game with a 4-6 record, but all of their victories have come in GAC games
- SWOSU is 2-3 in true road games and 3-3 away from home overall this year while Henderson State is 2-1 at home with a 2-0 mark in home league games
 
The Opponent
Henderson State (4-6, 4-0 GAC)
- The Reddies enter the game on a two-game slide after suffering non-conference setbacks against Rogers State and Texas A&M-Commerce
- Henderson State has GAC victories over Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist, East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma State that have them tied atop the league standings
- HSU is the third-highest scoring team in the GAC, averaging 76.1 points per game while their opponents are scoring 75.6 points per contest
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (117-94, 8th season)
- Two-time GAC Coach of the Year, winning back-to-back honors for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and she has led the Lady Bulldogs to three 20-win seasons
- Musick has coached one All-American and 15 All-GAC selections, including one Player of the Year (Darcie Dick, 2012) and one Freshman of the Year (Hailey Tucker, 2016)
- Musick has led SWOSU to the GAC Tournament Championship games with two GAC Tournament Championships (2012, 2014) and two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (2013, 2014) to her credit
- In eight seasons at SWOSU, Musick has a career record of 117-94, including a mark of 8-5 against Henderson State
 
Henderson State: Jill Thomas (41-52, 4th season)
- During her three seasons at Henderson State, she has led the Reddies to the GAC Tournament each season and coached four All-GAC selections
- Prior to Henderson, Thomas spent four seasons as the head coach at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina, compiling a 65-48 record
 
Checking the Standings
- Harding and Henderson State enter the new calendar year atop the league standings with matching records of 4-0
- SWOSU is one of three teams - along with Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State - that are just one game behind at 3-1 in league play
- Ouachita and Northwestern Oklahoma State come into 2017 with even league records of 2-2 while Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Arkansas and East Central each have one league victory
- Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist are both seeking their first GAC win
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/5/2012         Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 69-82
*2/2/2012         Weatherford, Okla.     W 77-56
*1/17/2013       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 90-81
*2/21/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 76-70
3/7/2013          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 69-59
*1/16/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 90-82
*2/20/2014       Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 97-101 (2 OT)
3/7/2014          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 66-60
*1/15/2015       Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 73-85
*2/21/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     W 116-108
*1/7/2016         Weatherford, Okla.     W 97-87
*2/25/16           Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 76-87
 
All-Time: SWOSU leads 8-5
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 8-4
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 5-0
In Arkadelphia: HSU leads 5-1
 
SWOSU Notes
- The Lady Bulldogs lead the Great American Conference and rank 21st in NCAA Division II with a scoring average of 78.9 points per game
- SWOSU has three players averaging better than 12.0 points per game, led by the GAC's leading scorer Hailey Tucker, who averages 18.2 points per game
- Hayden Priddy has reached double figures in scoring in four straight games, including back-to-back 20-point outings, to raise her scoring average to 13.2 points per game for the year
- Freshman Tyra Aska - the GAC Player of the Week on November 28 - was one off her career high with seven assists against USAO and she ranks second on the team in assists (4.3 per game) and third in scoring (12.0 ppg)
- Whitney Dunn secured her first career double-double with 15 points and a career-best 12 rebounds against USAO on Monday night
- Tucker is also SWOSU's leader in rebounding (9.7 per game) and blocked shots (1.8 per game), numbers that rank her second and third, respectively, in the conference
- The Lady Bulldogs have made 81 three-pointers this season, a number that ranks only behind Henderson State (90) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (83) among GAC teams
- SWOSU is averaging 9.3 steals per game, a mark that ranks second in the conference behind Harding (9.8)
 
Looking Ahead
- The Lady Bulldogs continue their road trip to Arkadelphia on Saturday with a 1:00 pm tipoff against Ouachita
- Next week, SWOSU will play at East Central on Thursday evening before returning home on Saturday to host Southern Nazarene