SWOSU women's basketball hopes to keep their unbeaten record in Great American Conference play alive, when they travel to East Central on Saturday, December 9.
The lone conference game of the week, the contest featuring the Tigers and Lady Bulldogs will start at 5:30 pm, later than the usual 1:00 pm tip-off for Saturday games. ECU began the year 3-0, but fell to Northwestern and Southern Nazarene to kick off their GAC slate. SWOSU has gotten the better of the Tigers in recent history. Since 2018-19, the Lady Dawgs are 8-3 against ECU, including a four-game win streak spanning from 2/6/21 to 12/10/22.
Road games have given SWOSU some trouble, as two of those three recent losses have been inside the confines of Kerr Activities Center. In the 2022-23 season, both home teams were successful in defending their court. SWOSU grabbed an 86-71 victory in Weatherford, while ECU took a 67-52 win in Ada.
The Tigers go wherever Mackenzie Crusoe leads them. She leads them in points per game (17.8 ppg), rebounds per game (8.8 rpg), and assists per game (2.4 apg). She ranks fourth in the GAC in points per game and rebounds per game. Her defensive prowess also stands out, as her 3.6 steals per game rank first in the GAC and eighth in Division-II.
SWOSU hit their highest point total of the season against USAO on Monday night, scoring 67 points to fend off the Lady Drovers for their third consecutive win. The two games from last week, wins over Oklahoma Baptist and Southeastern Oklahoma State, saw SWOSU begin GAC play 2-0.
Turning the opponent over has been the Lady Bulldogs' identity all season. They have won the turnover battle in every game so far and rank ninth in Division-II in turnover margin. Due to this defensive intensity, SWOSU has two players of the top 10 steal leaders in the GAC.
Hailey Grant is sitting in sixth with 2.5 steals per game and
Averi Zinn is in eighth with 2.4 steals per game.
Mason Jones has made her mark during the three-game win streak. She is averaging 14 points per game, shooting 58% from the field and 61% from three over this span; including a career high 21 points on 6-6 from three against Southeastern. Jones is now fourth in the conference in three-point percentage and third in three-point makes per game.
Averi Zinn matched Jones' output against the Savage Storm, putting in a new season high 21 points of her own. The two combined for a whopping 81% of SWOSU's points in the win.
