---

GAC Tournament Semifinals (3) SWOSU (20-9) vs. (2) Arkansas Tech (21-6) Saturday, March 4, 2:15 pm Bartlesville, Okla. (Bruin Fieldhouse) Stats | Audio | Video SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Women's Basketball has advanced to the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons
- The Lady Bulldogs will face No. 2-seed Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 pm from Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.
- SWOSU is a perfect 4-0 in the semifinal round of the GAC Tournament, advancing to the championship game in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016
- Arkansas Tech is the one team that SWOSU has been unable to defeat in the GAC Tournament, with the Golden Suns taking down the Lady Bulldogs in the 2013 and 2016 championship games
- In their previous trips to the semifinals, SWOSU has defeated Ouachita (2012), Harding (2013) and East Central (2014, 2016)
 
The Opponent
Arkansas Tech (21-6)
- Finished second in the Great American Conference regular season standings with a record of 16-6 in league games, one game ahead of SWOSU at 15-7
- Advanced to the semifinals of the GAC Tournament with a 69-57 victory over Ouachita on Thursday afternoon in Bartlesville
- Ranked third in the GAC in scoring, averaging 74.7 points per game while holding opponents to 61.3 points per contest, the second-best mark in the league
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (130-100, 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 two Players of the Year (Darcie Dick, 2012; Hailey Tucker, 2017) 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 130-100, including a mark of 4-12 against Arkansas Tech, including 0-2 against the Golden Suns in the GAC Tournament
 
Arkansas Tech: Dave Wilbers (232-60, 10th)
- Has led Tech to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of his first three seasons, including back-to-back Elite Eight finishes in 2009-10 and 2010-11. His team has reached the NCAA Tournament six times
- Wilbers' teams have won 3 regular season titles and two GAC tournament championships, including the 2016 tournament crown
 
Checking the Bracket
(1) Harding def. (8) Arkansas-Monticello 77-45
(2) Arkansas Tech def. (7) Ouachita 69-57
(3) SWOSU def. Southern Nazarene 93-75
(5) East Central def. (4) Southeastern Okla. 83-78
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/12/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 85-82
*2/9/2012         Russellville, Ark.         L 87-101
*1/5/2013         Russellville, Ark.         L 74-79
*2/7/2013         Weatherford, Okla.     L 76-82
3/10/2013        Bartlesville, Okla.        L 66-70 (OT)
*1/4/2014         Weatherford, Okla.     W 89-71
*2/6/2014         Russellville, Ark.         L 54-78
*12/17/2014     Russellville, Ark.         L 52-97
*2/5/2015         Weatherford, Okla.     L 62-64 (OT)
*11/19/2015     Weatherford, Okla.     L 73-94
*1/28/2016       Russellville, Ark.         L 69-91
3/6/2016          Bartlesville, Okla.        L 85-106
*11/17/2016     Russellville, Ark.         W 72-69
*1/28/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     W 90-79
 
GAC Era: Arkansas Tech leads 10-4
In Weatherford: Series tied 3-3
In Russellville: Arkansas Tech leads 5-1
In Bartlesville: Arkansas Tech leads 2-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- The Lady Bulldogs tied their season-high in scoring with 93 points against Southern Nazarene, upping the scoring average to 80.3 points per game for the year
- Hailey Tucker paced the Lady Dawgs with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds while also recording five assists and five blocks without committing a turnover
- Hayden Priddy was also solid for SWOSU, scoring 21 points with five rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes
- Priddy has played all 40 minutes in 16 games this season and she leads the Great American Conference by averaging 37.5 minutes per game this season
- Whitney Dunn tied a career-high with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting along with six rebounds in the GAC quarterfinals against SNU
- Savannah Gray chipped in 12 points on 3-for-6 shooting along with three assists in her first postseason game as a Lady Bulldog
- SWOSU was 25-of-33 (75.8%) from the free throw line against, the most made free throws by the Lady Dawgs in the past seven games
- Taylor Hedrick tied a career-high with seven rebounds in the GAC quarterfinals against SNU, a mark also previously set against the Crimson Storm in the regular season
 
Looking Ahead
- A victory would advance the Lady Bulldogs to their fifth Great American Conference Championship game, which will be on Sunday at 1:00 pm