Setting the Scene
• SWOSU Women's Basketball will play their final contest of 2019 on Saturday in Shawnee as they travel to the Noble Complex to face Great American Conference rival Oklahoma Baptist
• The Lady Bulldogs enter the week still ranked #25 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 and they've won three consecutive games, including a 72-70 conference victory over Southern Nazarene last Saturday
• SWOSU is 2-1 in conference play to this point with victories over East Central and Southern Nazarene sandwiching an 85-76 defeat at Southeastern Oklahoma State on November 23rd in Durant
• Since suffering that loss at Southeastern, the Lady Bulldogs have defeated Cameron, Oklahoma Christian and SNU to improve to 7-2 on the season
• SWOSU has won six straight matchups against Oklahoma Baptist, including two consecutive in Shawnee where they are 2-2 since the Bison joined the Great American Conference
 
About the Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (3-5, 0-3 GAC)
• The Bison have won two of their last three games and they are 2-1 at home this season, but they come into Saturday's game in search of their first conference victory of the season
• OBU opened the season at the same GAC/MIAA Challenge as SWOSU, dropping close contests to Pittsburg State and Washburn before defeating Ozark Christian, Rogers State and Northeastern State to conclude non-conference play
• OBU ranks fourth in the GAC with an average of 77.9 points per game while allowing a league-worst 72.8 points per game to their opponents
• Three players average double figures in scoring for the Bison, who are led in scoring (18.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg) by freshman guard Kalifa Ford
 
SWOSU Notes
• Junior forward Bethany Franks was named the Great American Conference Player of the Week for the second time in her career on Monday following her performance in SWOSU wins over Oklahoma Christian and Southern Nazarene last week
• Franks was one point shy of a triple-double against OC, scoring nine points in addition to 10 rebounds and 11 steals, which represents a new single-game school record for the NCAA era
• SWOSU's leading scorer, Maddie Sperle, put up 13 points while recording a career-high 4 steals against SNU and she's averaging 16.2 points per game for the year
• The Lady Bulldogs have risen to second in the conference in scoring with an average of 79.0 points per game, thanks in part to a league-leading 9.8 3-pointers made per game
• Four different Lady Bulldogs have hit 10 or more three-pointers this year, led by Makyra Tramble (20) and Sperle (19)
• Taber Beer had 13 points while dishing out a career-high eight assists last Thursday before being held scoreless in the Lady Dawgs win over SNU
• Tyra Aska played all 40 minutes for the third time this season on Thursday against Oklahoma Christian, scoring 10 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and five steals
• With 11 steals against OC, Franks not only set a new single-game school record but she also matched the highest single-game total in NCAA Division II this season and she now ranks second in the country with 4.7 steals per game
• SWOSU is ranked second in the conference and 10th in the country with an average of 13.8 steals per game with five different players who have recorded at least 10 steals this season
• Makyra Tramble posted her third career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Oklahoma Christian and she's now second on the team in both scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg)
• The Lady Bulldogs are third in the league by forcing 21.8 turnovers per game, which includes five straight games with opponents committing at least 20 turnovers
 
Looking Ahead
• Following a near three-week break, the Lady Bulldogs return to action in early January with a trip to Arkansas to face Arkansas-Monticello (Jan. 2) and Southern Arkansas (Jan. 4)
• The next home game for SWOSU will be on January 9th against Ouachita