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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Women's Basketball has advanced to the Great American Conference Tournament semifinals, where they will face No. 4-seed Harding on Saturday evening at 5:45 from Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville
- This is the sixth time in seven seasons that the Lady Bulldogs have advanced to the semifinals of the GAC Tournament, where they are 4-1 in the previous five trips
- SWOSU had to survive an upset bid by Oklahoma Baptist in the quarterfinals, finishing the game on a 27-3 run to earn the 80-72 victory on Thursday evening
- Harding advanced to the semifinals with a 73-63 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday evening
- The Lady Bulldogs are 3-0 all-time against Harding in the GAC Tournament, with two wins in the Championship Game (2012, 2014) and one in the semifinals (2013)
 
The Opponent
(4) Harding (17-14)
- As the reigning GAC Tournament Champions, Harding moved into the semifinals by defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday in the quarterfinals
- The Lady Bisons have won 11 of their last 13 games, dating back to January 20th, to improve to 17-14 on the season and finish alone in 4th place in the GAC standings
- Harding had two players earn All-Great American Conference distinction, led by Second Team selection and GAC Freshman of the Year Kellie Lampo while senior Sydney Layrock was an Honorable Mention choice
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kelsi Musick (156-104, 9th season)
- Three-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 five 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
 
Harding: Tim Kirby (258-125, 13th season)
- Kirby has led the Lady Bisons to 11 straight conference tournament berths and directed the 2017 team to a 31-4 record and an appearance in the national semifinals
- His teams have won GAC regular-season championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017, qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Tournament all three seasons
 
Checking the Standings
(1) SWOSU vs. (4) Harding; Saturday, March 3, 5:45 pm
(2) Arkansas Tech vs. (3) Henderson State; Saturday, March 3, 8:00 pm
Championship; Sunday, March 4, 3:30 pm
 
The Series (GAC Era)
Date                Location                     Score
*1/14/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 66-61
*2/11/2012       Searcy, Ark.                L 54-73
3/4/2012          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 69-58
*1/3/2013         Searcy, Ark.                L 61-69
*2/9/2013         Weatherford, Okla.     W 84-69
3/9/2013          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 82-68
*1/2/2014         Weatherford, Okla.     L 69-95
*2/8/2014         Searcy, Ark.                L 74-89
3/9/2014          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 78-74
*11/22/2014     Searcy, Ark.                L 69-105
*2/7/2015         Weatherford, Okla.     W 78-65
*11/21/2015     Weatherford, Okla.     L 74-85
*1/30/2016       Searcy, Ark.                W 79-77
*11/19/2016     Searcy, Ark.                L 72-76
*1/26/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     W 80-79
*12/2/2017       Searcy, Ark                 W 84-73
*2/1/2018         Weatherford, Okla.     W 103-77
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 10-7
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 5-2
In Searcy: Harding leads 5-2
In Bartlesville: SWOSU leads 3-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- After setting a season-high with 29 points on three different occasions, Hailey Tucker broke through the 30-point barrier by scoring a career-high 34 points on Thursday against Oklahoma Baptist in the GAC Quarterfinals
- Tucker finished 9-of-22 from the field and 13-of-16 from the free throw line while playing all 40 minutes against the Lady Bison
- Bethany Franks had a big game in her first GAC Tournament appearance, scoring 14 points with a career-best 21 rebounds (8 offensive) in the quarterfinals
- The 21 rebounds by Franks was one shy of the GAC Tournament record, held by Caroline Eubanks of Arkansas Tech (22, vs. SWOSU, 2/10/13)
- Tyra Aska recorded the first double-double of her career on Thursday night, scoring 13 points while hauling in a career-high 10 rebounds against OBU
- Oklahoma Baptist limited First Team All-GAC guard Hayden Priddy to a season-low two points on Thursday night as she battled foul trouble and shot just 1-of-12 from the field
- Taber Beer stepped in with five points and two rebounds against OBU while playing 15 minutes, her second-highest minute total of the season
- SWOSU has reached the 20-win plateau for the 22nd time in school history and fifth time under the direction of Kelsi Musick
- The 26 wins by the Lady Bulldogs is also the most by the program as an NCAA Division II institution
 
Looking Ahead
- With a victory on Saturday evening, SWOSU would advance to the GAC Tournament Championship Game to face either (2) Arkansas Tech or (3) Henderson State