Setting the Scene
- No. 17/19 SWOSU Women's Basketball will enter unchartered territory this week when they play three games, all GAC contests, in one week beginning with Northwestern at home on Monday starting at 5:30 pm
- The Rangers have been unsuccessful in Weatherford during the GAC era, having never defeated the Lady Dawgs on the road in five chances
- Last season, SWOSU avenged their 87-80 loss to NWOSU in Alva on Jan. 16 by defeating the Rangers 80-65 at home in the regular season series finale on Feb. 13
- Coming into Monday, the Lady Bulldogs hold a five game winning streak -- one shy of the league's current high with Henderson State having won six straight
- SWOSU now holds a firm two game lead in the standings sitting at a perfect 8-0 in GAC action, with both Arkansas Tech and Henderson State tied for second with 6-2 marks
The Opponent
Northwestern (8-6, 4-4 GAC)
- Enters Monday an even 4-4 in the league and in a two-way tie for sixth place with Ouachita in the conference standings
- The Rangers are led by former SWOSU Lady Bulldog Jade Jones who is averaging a team best 12.4 points per game and 5.3 assists per game
- Freshman Selena McDonald is shooting a GAC best 70.8% from the field and averaging 8.8 points per game herself
- In all five mathups in Weatherford, NWOSU has lost by double digits in all five of them
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (143-102, 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 143-102, including a mark of 8-2 against NWOSU all-time
NWOSU: Tasha Diesselhorst (17-25; 2nd season)
- Diesselhorst is heading into her second season as the head coach for Northwestern Lady Ranger basketball, following a solid first season at the helm where her team just narrowly missed the conference tournament
- She arrived at Northwestern following a nine-year stint at Pond Creek-Hunter HS
Checking the Standings
- Henderson State has now won six straight games including four straight conference matchups, propelling to the top of the standings tied for second with Arkansas Tech
- On the contrary, Arkansas-Monticello has lost their last four games and has collected just one GAC win on the season which puts them in last place
- East Central is also sliding, currently riding a league worst five game losing streak which has dropped them to the bottom half of the standings tied for eighth
The Series
Date Location Score
*1/26/2013 Alva, Okla................................... W 78-41
*2/28/2013 Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 80-66
*1/25/2014 Weatherford, Okla..................... W 87-68
*2/27/2014 Alva, Okla. .................................. W 71-68
*1/22/2015 Alva, Okla. .................................... L 31-61
*2/26/2015 Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 83-72
*1/18/2016 Weatherford, Okla. .................... W 89-50
*2/15/2016 Alva, Okla. .................................. W 79-65
*1/16/2017 Alva, Okla. .................................... L 80-87
*2/13/2017 Weatherford, Okla...................... W 80-65
*GAC Conference Meeting
GAC series: SWOSU leads 8-2
In Weatherford- SWOSU leads 5-0
In Alva- SWOSU leads 3-2
SWOSU Notes
-
Hayden Priddy is closing in on 1,000 career points, needing exactly 50 points to achieve the milestone in three years wearing a Lady Bulldog jersey
- Priddy dished out six assists on Saturday against Southeastern, the fifth straight game she has collected at least four assists and the third time in four games she has had six assists
- Against Southeastern on Saturday,
Hailey Tucker finished tied for her season scoring high of 29 points and two points shy of her career best scoring number (31) set as a freshman
- Tucker extended her streak of knocking down multiple three-point shots in a game to five after shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc against SE
-
Bethany Franks earned her fourth double-double of the season against the Savage Storm, posting 13 points and 12 rebounds
- SWOSU has three players (Tucker 1st, Priddy 2nd, Aska 5th) who rank in the top five in the conference in minutes played
- The Lady Bulldogs have had 16 and 18 point leads dwindle to single possession ballgames in three of their last four games against UAM, ECU, and SE
- Against SE, SWOSU took care of the basketball by committing just five turnovers all season -- their lowest turnover number of the season
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will host Southern Nazarene on Wednesday in another evening matchup before traveling to Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday to wrap up the busy week
