SHAWNEE, Okla. – In the Great American Conference opener, SWOSU Women's Basketball secured a 59-53 victory over Oklahoma Baptist. The Lady Bulldogs built an 18-point fourth quarter lead but had to withstand a late push from OBU to earn the victory.
SWOSU (3-3, 1-0 GAC) has now won eight consecutive games inside the Noble Complex in Shawnee dating back to the 2017-18 season. They'll return to action on Saturday, December 2, to host Southeastern at 1:00 pm in Weatherford in more GACtion.
Hailey Grant led the team Thursday night by scoring 15 points – a new season high – on 6-of-13 shooting. She added three steals and came down with five rebounds. She was aided by Mason Jones and Lanie Gooch who both finished with 10 points apiece on a combined 8-of-10 from the field.
Jaedyn Getman of Oklahoma Baptist led all scorers with 23 points.
SWOSU started the game strong by shooting 54% from the field and led 15-14 after the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs extended that margin in the second quarter and led 30-24 at halftime.
Both teams started slow after halftime, but the Lady Bulldogs got things rolling and went on to finish the quarter by making seven of their last eight field goals and shot 47%. They led 50-36 after three quarters.
Two more unanswered field goals to start the final quarter opened up SWOSU's largest lead of the game at 54-36. From there, it was nearly all OBU. The Bison ripped off a 17-2 run throughout the quarter which included five Bulldog turnovers and had the ball with less than 30 seconds to play and a chance to tie, down just three points.
The Lady Bulldogs came away with a steal on defense and knocked down free throws down the stretch to finally ice the game for good after the scare.
SWOSU was 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the last quarter. They shot just eight total in the game.
For the game, the Dawgs shot 41.8% from the field and 30% (7-for-23) from beyond the arc. OBU finished at 38% overall and was limited to just three deep balls on 19 attempts.
The Lady Bulldogs forced 17 turnovers and converted those into 26 points. SWOSU committed 13 themselves, but the Bison only managed 11 points off them.
