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Setting the Scene
- The No. 11/9 SWOSU Lady Bulldogs travel to Arkansas for the second time this season to take on Henderson State for the beginning of the second half of conference play
- Tipoff is scheduled for the usual 5:30 pm Thursday night slate in Arkadelphia
- The Lady Bulldogs cracked the Top 10 in the national rankings this week, coming in at No. 9 in the D2SIDA (Media) Poll while ranking No. 11 in the WBCA (Coaches) Poll
- SWOSU completed its first 11 games of league play unbeaten in the GAC and will take a two-game lead over the rest of the field into the second leg of the conference schedule
- The Lady Bulldogs were victorious over the Reddies by a final score of 80-72 in their last meeting in Weatherford earlier this season, pushing SWOSU's winning streak to three games against Henderson State
- SWOSU has struggled on the road in Arkadelphia against Henderson State in the GAC era, holding just a 2-4 record inside the Duke Wells Center dating back to 2012
 
The Opponent
Henderson State (12-5, 8-3 GAC)
- HSU recently had their seven game winning streak come to an end at the hands of Southern Arkansas -- a span of games that included five straight conference victories
- Henderson State ranks first in the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to 64.4 points per game
- The Reddies are also guarding the three-point line well, holding opposing teams to just 26% shooting from beyond the arc which also leads the league
- Pink Jones ranks fourth in the league in scoring, tallying 16.1 points per game

The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (146-102, 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 146-102, including a mark of 11-5 against HSU all-time
 
HSU: Jill Thomas (57-71; 5th season)
- Thomas has led the Reddies to the GAC Tournament three times, coached five all conference players and has had six players earn Academic All-GAC honors
- Prior to HSU, she spent four seasons as the head coach at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina, compiling a 65-48 record
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU now holds the highest winning streak around the league at eight game following Henderson State's loss to Southern Arkansas last week
- Arkansas Tech is the only other team to not lose a game last week, winning all three of their GAC contests to remain in second place in the standings
- Arkansas-Monticello has now lost six straight games and sits dead last in the league with just one win in conference
 
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
*1/5/2017         Arkadelphia, Ark. ....................... W 85-80
*2/25/2017       Weatherford, Okla...................... W 80-69
*11/18/2017     Weatherford, Okla...................... W 80-72
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 11-4
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 7-0
In Arkadelphia: HSU leads 4-2
In Bartlesville: SWOSU leads 2-0

SWOSU Notes
- Hayden Priddy became the 12th player in SWOSU Women's Basketball history to score 1,000 career points last week and now sits 11th on the all-time list with 1,016 points
- Hailey Tucker also ranks high on that list, coming in 5th with 1,390 total points
- Priddy became the fourth different SWOSU starter to earn GAC Player of the Week honors following her performances in three games last week where she averaged 22 points and seven assists which included a 33-point career scoring night against NWOSU
- Bethany Franks also notched a career scoring game last week, totaling 17 points against Oklahoma Baptist
- Tyra Aska dished out eight assists against the Lady Bison, matching her career best
- The offense is rolling coming into Thursday's game at Henderson State, having scored 90+ points in five of the last six games including all three games last week
- The Lady Dawgs have had all five of their starting five finish in double figure scoring the last two games
- SWOSU's high octane offense currently ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division II by averaging 86.3 points per game 
- After starting the season 9-0 at home, the Lady Bulldogs will finish off the year with seven of their final 11 games on the road (6-1 currently on the road)

Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will travel across the street on Saturday to take on Ouachita at 1 pm and wrap up their three-game road trip away from the Pioneer Cellular Event Center