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Setting the Scene
- No. 17/19 SWOSU Women's Basketball finishes off their week of conference action with a home matchup against Southern Arkansas on Saturday set to begin at 1 pm
- The game is SWOSU's third straight home contest and a part of a four-game homestand that stretched from mid-December and into the new year
- The Lady Bulldogs have claimed the last four games against the Lady Muleriders while historically handling SAU -- posting an 11-1 overall record against Southern Arkansas in the GAC era
- During SWOSU's four game winning streak over Southern Arkansas that spans back to the 2015-16 season, the Lady Dawgs have beat SAU by double digits in each of the four contests
- Following Thursday's action around the GAC, SWOSU still remains the only team to be unbeaten in league play and sits atop the conference standings
 
The Opponent
Southern Arkansas (2-9, 1-4 GAC)
- Sits in a tie for last place in the conference standings, holding a 1-4 record in GAC play
- The Lady Muleriders are riding a two game winning streak coming into Saturday's matchup, including a second half comeback win against Northwestern in which SAU erased an 18-point halftime deficit to earn their first conference win of the season
- Offensively, SAU is led by three players who average double figures including Kimberly Crown who is scoring 13.1 points and grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game -- ranking 11th in scoring and 6th in rebounding in the conference 

The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (140-102, 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 140-102, including a mark of 11-1 against SAU all-time
 
SAU: Julio Pacheco (27-38; 7th season)
- Named the Great American Conference's Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm during the 2015-16 season
- Seven years prior to his arrival in Magnolia, Pacheco was the top assistant at fellow GAC opponent and perennial national contender, Arkansas Tech
 
Checking the Standings
- SWOSU is the lone GAC team without a loss, sitting at 5-0 in the league while both Southeastern and Arkansas Tech each have one loss
- Henderson State and East Central hold 3-2 marks while Southern Nazarene is an even 3-3 having played an extra game
- Ouachita and Northwestern are just below .500 with 2-3 slates and would round out the eight playoff spots if the season ended tomorrow
 
The Series
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
*2/2/2017         Magnolia, Ark.............................. W 79-68
 
SWOSU vs. Southern Arkansas
SWOSU leads series 11-1 since 2012 (GAC History Only)

SWOSU Notes
- The Lady Bulldogs surpassed the 80-point scoring threshold again on Thursday night against UAM, tallying at least 80 points for the ninth time this season
- Through 11 games, SWOSU's offense ranks eighth in all of NCAA Division II in scoring by averaging 83.3 points per game
- Leading the scoring attack for the Lady Bulldogs is Hailey Tucker, averaging 21.4 points per game including 23 against Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night
- After starting the season with eight points against Emporia State, Tucker has now achieved double figure scoring in each of the previous 10 games 
- Tyra Aska and Hayden Priddy are SWOSU's other double figure scorers, averaging 15.5 and 14.4 points per game respectively
- Similar to Tucker, Aska has also only scored fewer than 10 points just one time this season -- finishing with nine against Henderson State as her only game not in double digit scoring
- Against UAM, Bethany Franks finished with another double-double -- her second straight game with 10+ points and rebounds and the third time this season
- Alexa Harvey set new season bests by grabbing three rebounds and dishing out two assists against the Cotton Blossoms -- tying her season best playing time mark of 10 minutes on the floor

Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will conclude its four game homestand next Thursday (Jan. 11) against East Central before traveling to Durant, Okla. on Saturday (Jan. 13) to take on Southeastern