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Setting the Scene
- The Lady Bulldogs (7-0, 3-0 GAC) kept their perfect record intact and collected their second win over a Top 25 opponent this season on Thursday against Arkansas Tech, but will have no time to celebrate with another tough Harding team looming on Saturday afternoon
- The SWOSU and Harding GAC series has been nearly a stalemate dating back to 2012, with the Lady Bulldogs holding a slight edge in the series over the Lady Bisons 8-7 
- The Lady Dawgs are just 1-5 playing in Searcy, with their lone win coming during the 2015-16 season by a final score of 79-77
- Each of the last three seasons, the pair of teams have traded off wins with 1-1 regular season series records
- Last year, SWOSU fell to HU 76-72 in Searcy but rebounded in Weatherford to defeat the Lady Bisons 80-79
 
The Opponent
Harding (3-4, 1-2 GAC)
- Began this season coming off of a historic 2017 postseason run where they won four games in the NCAA Tournament, making it all the way to the Final Four before finally falling to No. 1-ranked Ashland
- The Lady Bisons entered the 2017-18 season ranked No. 3 in the WBCA Preseason Poll, set to return seven letterman from the Final Four squad and four of their five starters
- A slow start to the season which included four out of five losses to start the year, dropped HU out of the poll all together – but Harding is back on the rise after back-to-back blowout victories coming into their matchup with SWOSU
- Harding leads the GAC in field goal percentage, shooting 46.6% from the floor as a team 

The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (137-101, 9th season)
- Two-time GAC Coach of the Year, winning back-to-back honors for the '11-12 and '12-13 seasons and she has now led the Lady Bulldogs to four 20-win seasons after a 20-10 finish a year ago
- Musick has coached two All-Americans and 18 All-GAC selections, including two Player of the Years (Darcie Dick, 2012 / Hailey Tucker, 2017) and one Freshman of the Year (Hailey Tucker, 2016)
- Musick has led SWOSU to four GAC Tournament Championship games with two GAC Tournament Championships (2012, 2014) and two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (2013, 2014) to her credit
- In nine seasons at SWOSU, Musick has a career record of 137-101, including a mark of 8-7 against HU all-time
 
Harding: Time Kirby (244-115; 13th season)
- Kirby has led the Lady Bisons to 11 straight conference tournament berths and directed the 2017 team to a 31-4 record and an appearance in the national semifinals
- Kirby's teams have won Great American Conference regular-season championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017, qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Tournament all three seasons
 
Checking the Conference Standings
- SWOSU sits alone atop the conference standings as the only team undefeated in league play while also sporting an unscathed 7-0 overall record
- Five teams now hold 2-1 league records including Arkansas Tech, Southern Nazarene, Northwestern, Southeastern, and East Central
- Five other teams have one win and two losses in GAC action: Arkansas-Monticello, Oklahoma Baptist, Henderson State, Ouachita, and Harding
- Southern Arkansas rounds out the standings winless in three conference games and also winless in 2017 at 0-6 overall
 
The Series
Date                Location                                           Score
*1/14/2012       Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 66-61
 *2/11/2012      Searcy, Ark. .................................. L 54-73
 3/4/2012         Bartlesville, Okla. ....................... W 69-58
 *1/3/2013        Searcy, Ark. .................................. L 61-69
 *2/9/2013        Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 84-69
 3/9/2013         Bartlesville, Okla. ....................... W 82-68
 *1/2/2014        Weatherford, Okla. ...................... L 69-95
 *2/8/2014        Searcy, Ark. .................................. L 74-89
 3/9/2014         Bartlesville, Okla. ....................... W 78-74
 *11/22/2014    Searcy, Ark. ................................ L 69-105
 *2/7/2015        Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 78-65
 *11/21/2015    Weatherford, Okla. ...................... L 74-85
*1/30/2016       Searcy, Ark. ................................ W 79-77
*11/19/2016     Searcy, Ark. .................................. L 72-76
*1/26/2017       Weatherford, Okla...................... W 80-79
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 8-7
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 4-2
In Searcy: Harding leads 5-1
In Bartlesville: SWOSU leads 3-0

SWOSU Notes
- The Lady Bulldogs were recently placed in the Top 25 right at No. 25 in both the WBCA and D2SIDA Polls, marking the first time in SWOSU's NCAA Division II history that they have entered a national poll dating back to the 1997-98 season
- The Dawgs are the only team in the GAC with seven wins to date, sporting a perfect record with wins over No. 11 Emporia State and now most recently No. 19 Arkansas Tech
- Thursday against Tech was a double-double kind of night, with three different Bulldogs in the starting lineup posting double-digit points and either double-digit rebounds or assists
- Hayden Priddy (17 pts, 11 ast) and Bethany Franks (10 pts, 10 reb) both earned their first double-double of the season, while Hailey Tucker (17 pts, 10 reb) collected her second straight and third of the season
- Priddy's 11 assists set a new career best for the junior, while Franks also set her new rebounding high with 10 boards
- Alexa Harvey is now shooting a perfect 100% from the field this season, after connecting on 3-of-3 from three-point land against Tech
- The offense came into the Tech game averaging 84.2 points per game which ranked 11th in NCAA Division II and scored right at their season average, while holding ATU (who ranked 10th at 85.0 ppg) to just 76 points  

Looking Ahead
- SWOSU's only game next week will be against another ranked foe, on the road against No. 8/7 Lubbock Christian on Thursday, December 7