Setting the Scene
- Rivalry action takes the Lady Bulldog Basketball team and their 13-game win streak to Alva on Thursday night for a matchup with Northwestern Oklahoma State
- SWOSU moved up in both national rankings this week, climbing to #17 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll and #16 in the D2SIDA Media Poll for their highest rankings since the preseason
- The Lady Bulldogs defeated Ouachita and Henderson State last weekend in Arkadelphia to improve to 8-0 in Great American Conference play, while Northwestern was swept on the road trip and they enter Thursday night's game with a mark of 2-6 in conference games
- SWOSU has won three straight games against Northwestern and they are 10-2 against the Rangers since they transitioned to NCAA Division II and joined the GAC, which includes a 4-2 mark in games played in Alva
 
About the Opponent
Northwestern Okla. (5-10, 2-6 GAC)
- The Lady Rangers have dropped three straight games after picking up their second conference win of the season over Southern Arkansas on January 3rd
- NWOSU ranks eighth in the GAC in scoring offense (67.6 ppg) while opponents are posting 73.0 points per against the Rangers, which is the second-highest scoring defense among league teams
- Leading the Rangers in scoring are a pair of double-digit scorers in Kalea King (16.0 ppg) and Bailey Brown (13.9 ppg)
- Tasha Diesselhorst is in her third year as the head coach at Northwestern and she guided the Lady Rangers to a four-win improvement last season with 12 victories
 
The Series (since 1990)

Date	Location	Score
1/31/90	Weatherford	W, 85-81
2/21/90	Alva	L, 79-88
1/23/91	Weatherford	W, 78-44
2/13/91	Alva	W, 62-50
1/22/92	Weatherford	L, 59-60
2/12/92	Alva	W, 59-53
1/20/93	Alva	W, 61-58
2/10/93	Weatherford	W, 58-51
1/19/94	Weatherford	W, 68-46
2/9/94	Alva	W, 55-49
1/21/95	Weatherford	W, 62-48
2/18/95	Alva	W, 79-64
1/17/96	Weatherford	W, 72-59
2/14/96	Alva	L, 50-55
1/27/97	Weatherford	W, 87-64
2/22/97	Alva	W, 76-73
3/6/97	Weatherford	W, 77-73
1/26/13	Alva	W, 78-41
2/28/13	Weatherford	W, 80-66
1/25/14	Weatherford	W, 87-68
2/27/14	Alva	W, 71-68
1/22/15	Alva	L, 31-61
2/26/15	Weatherford	W, 83-72
1/18/16	Weatherford	W, 89-50
2/15/16	Alva	W, 79-65
1/16/17	Alva	L, 80-87
2/13/17	Weatherford	W, 80-65
1/15/18	Weatherford	W, 95-81
2/19/18	Alva	W, 85-74
All-Time: SWOSU Leads 42-17
NCAA Division II Era: SWOSU Leads 10-2
in Weatherford: SWOSU Leads 24-4
in Alva: SWOSU Leads  18-12
Neutral: NWOSU Leads 0-1
at Pioneer Cellular Event Center: SWOSU Leads 5-0

 
SWOSU Notes
- In the latest national rankings, released on Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs climbed three spots to #17 in the WBCA Coaches Poll and up two spots to #16 in the D2SIDA Media Poll
- Tyra Aska enters the week 12 points shy of becoming the 13th player in SWOSU Women's Basketball history to score 1,000 points during their career
- Aska matched her season high with 23 points last Saturday, helping SWOSU to a 76-64 victory over Henderson State to climb from 15th to 13th on the Lady Bulldogs' career scoring list
- The Lady Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents by 24.1 points per game during Great American Conference play, including seven straight victories by double figures after a 79-76 win at East Central in the conference opener
- Hailey Tucker is second in the GAC in scoring, averaging 19.3 points per game for the year and she's scored at least 14 points in each of the last 12 games
- Tucker is also second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game after pulling down seven or more boards in seven straight contests
- Bethany Franks pulled down 10 rebounds at Henderson State, marking her third straight 10-plus rebound game and fourth in the last five outings
- Franks leads the GAC with 9.9 rebounds per game while ranking third with a field goal percentage of 61.4% (54-for-88)
- After being held to fewer than 10 points for the first time this season last Thursday, Hayden Priddy bounced back with her fourth 20-point game of the season at Henderson State
- Priddy also moved up to fifth in both SWOSU and GAC history for scoring with 1,459 career points to her credit
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU concludes their four-game road trip on Saturday with a trip to Durant to meet second-place Southeastern Oklahoma State
- Next weekend, the Lady Bulldogs return to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center to host perennial conference powers Arkansas Tech (Jan. 24) and Harding (Jan. 26)