WEATHERFORD, Okla. – As the outright champions of the Great American Conference, SWOSU Soccer has earned the top-seed in the 2019 GAC Tournament and the right to host the event, which begins on Thursday at the SWOSU Athletic Complex.
 
In the semifinals, SWOSU will be matched up with Harding, who finished 6-5-1 in league play to earn the fourth seed. In the regular season, SWOSU swept the Lady Bisons, winning by a count of 6-0 in Weatherford on October 10th before coming from behind in the second half for a 2-1 win in Searcy on November 2nd.
 
SWOSU is making their eighth appearance in the GAC Tournament in nine years and they will be facing Harding for the seventh time in the postseason. In those previous meetings, SWOSU is 4-1-1 against Harding, including two straight wins in the semifinals, both coming by shutout. The last time the Bulldogs hosted the tournament, however, they tied the Lady Bisons in the final and Harding won the tournament 6-5 in penalty kicks and advanced to the national tournament.
 
In seven previous tournaments, SWOSU is 5-1-1 in the semifinals and they've advanced to the championship game six times, including a penalty kick win over Southern Nazarene in 2016, the last time they hosted the tournament. Full results from the previous tournament appearances are below.
 
2011: November 4-6; Ada, Okla.
 Nov. 4: (3) Ouachita def. (2) SWOSU, 1-0
2012: November 2-4; Weatherford, Okla.
 Nov. 2: (1) SWOSU def. (4) Harding, 4-0
 Nov. 4: (1) SWOSU def. (3) Ouachita Baptist, 2-1
2013: November 8-10; Weatherford, Okla.
 Nov. 8: (1) SWOSU def. (4) East Central, 5-0
 Nov. 10: (1) SWOSU def. (3) Harding, 2-0
2015: November 5-7; Searcy, Ark.
 Nov. 5: (3) SWOSU def. (2) Ouachita Baptist, 2-1
 Nov. 7: (1) Harding def. (3) SWOSU, 5-3
2016: November 3-5; Weatherford, Okla.
 Nov. 3: (1) SWOSU tied (4) Southern Nazarene 3-3 (SWOSU advanced 4-2 on penalty kicks)
 Nov. 5: (1) SWOSU tied (3) Harding 2-2 (Harding advanced 6-5 on penalty kicks)
2017: November 2-4; Shawnee, Okla.
 Nov. 2: (2) SWOSU def. (3) Harding 3-0
 Nov. 4: (2) SWOSU def. (1) Oklahoma Baptist 3-2
2018: November 1-3; Shawnee, Okla.
 Nov. 1: (2) SWOSU def. (3) Harding 2-0
 Nov. 3: (1) Oklahoma Baptist def. (2) SWOSU, 3-2 (OT)
 
SWOSU is led by senior forward Sandra Nabweteme, NCAA Division II's active leader in goals scored (76) and points (187). Last Thursday, Nabweteme became SWOSU and the Great American Conference's all-time leader in goals scored and she then went on to win her fifth consecutive GAC Offensive Player of the Week award and sixth of the season. For the year, Nabweteme leads the conference and ranks fourth in NCAA Division II with 20 goals scored.
 
While SWOSU's offense ranks second in the league with 40 goals this season, they are also stout defensively and have given up the fewest amount of goals in the conference with 18, an average of one per game. Behind freshman defender Elizabeth Moreno and freshman goalkeeper Kirstyn Dill – both two-time GAC Players of the Week this season – SWOSU has recorded six shutouts and they allowed more than one goal in a conference match just once this season.
 
Kickoff of SWOSU's semifinal contest is set for 2:00 pm on Thursday at the Athletic Complex, following the conclusion of the other semifinal matchup, which features No. 2-seed Ouachita against No. 3-seed Oklahoma Baptist, beginning at 11:00 am. Both semifinals will be broadcast live on Coyote TV and live stats will be available through SWOSUAthletics.com.