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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Women's Basketball (12-6, 8-4 GAC) will take the momentum they are riding after beating two ranked teams last week with and will look to translate it on the road when they take on Southern Arkansas on Thursday
- The Lady Bulldogs are looking to sweep the season series against SAU after beating them in Weatherford 71-61 back on December 3
- So far this season the Lady Bulldogs are 5-1 in games played on Thursdays but 4-6 in true road games
- Since the GAC was formed in 2012, SWOSU holds a 10-1 record against the Muleriders and are currently on a three-game win streak against SAU
- The Dawgs are now in third place in the GAC standings, behind Arkansas Tech and in front of Southeastern

The Opponent
Southern Arkansas (5-12, 3-10 GAC)
- The Muleriders are ranked tied for 11th with Oklahoma Baptist in the GAC with a 3-10 league record
- SAU is 2-7 in the month of January, and have lost two-straight games coming into their contest with SWOSU
- Kimberly Crown is the Muleriders lone double-digit scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game
- Southern Arkansas ranks third in the GAC in steals averaging 8.2 per game

The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (122-97, 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 122-97, including a mark of 10-1 against SAU
 
Southern Arkansas: Julio Pacheco (5-12, 1st season)
- Pacheco comes to SAU after a year away from the coaching world, but in the seven years prior, Pacheco was the top assistant at Arkansas Tech where he helped lead ATU to 4 regular season championships, 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 conference tournaments
championships, and consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight
 
Checking the Standings
- Harding was handed their first loss of the conference schedule from SWOSU last week but still rank atop the standings, followed by Arkansas Tech and then the Bulldogs
- Southeastern, Henderson State and Southern Nazarene rank fourth through sixth and are only separated by a game and a half from each other
- Four teams are tied for seventh: Arkansas-Monticello, Ouachita, East Central and Northwestern
- Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Arkansas round out the rankings tied for last place
 
The Series
SWOSU vs. Southern Arkansas
SWOSU leads series 10-1 since 2012 (GAC History Only)
 
 Date              Location                                Score
 *1/21/2012   Magnolia, Ark.                     W 80-73
 *2/18/2012   Weatherford, Okla.               W 98-66
 *12/1/2012   Weatherford, Okla.               W 101-59
 *1/31/2013   Magnolia, Ark.                     W 87-59
 *11/23/2013  Magnolia, Ark.                     W 76-62
 *1/30/2014   Weatherford, Okla.               W 86-71
 *1/10/2015   Weatherford, Okla.               W 73-70
 *2/14/2015   Magnolia, Ark.                      L 53-58
 *12/5/2015   Magnolia, Ark.                      W 89-78
*2/6/2016      Weatherford, Okla.               W 98-80
*12/3//16       Weatherford, Okla.               W 71-61
 
*GAC Conference Meeting

SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU picked up their third win over ranked opponents this season after back-to-back wins last week over #21 Harding and #17 Arkansas Tech and are now 3-1 on the season against foes ranked in the top 25
- The Dawgs, statistically a 69% foul shooting team, shot a season-best 91% from the free-throw line as a team by knocking down 30-of-33 from the charity stripe
- The Lady Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 at home this season, but struggle on the road holding a 4-6 record away from Weatherford
- SWOSU has fallen behind on the road by 12+ points nine times this season and are 3-6 in such games, with come-back wins over Northeastern State (trailing 12), Henderson State (trailing 16) and #25/19 Arkansas Tech (trailing 19)
- On Saturday against ATU, Hayden Priddy earned career highs in both points (29) and rebounds (10) while shooting a perfect 12-12 from the free-throw line
- Priddy has now played all 40 minutes of five-consecutive games and is tied for the highest playing time in the GAC at 36.9 minutes per game
- Hailey Tucker recorded her seventh double-double of the season after scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds
- Whitney Dunn scored in double digits for the seventh time this season after putting up 12 points

Looking Ahead
- The Lady Bulldogs will head to Monticello to take on the Cotton Blossoms on Saturday, Feb. 4 for an afternoon game starting at 1:00 pm
- Next week, the Dawgs head up I40 to take on Southern Nazarene on Thursday, Feb. 9 before returning to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center to host East Central on Feb. 11