| Feb. 1 - vs Arkansas-Monticello (6-12, 2-10 GAC) |
| 5:30 pm tipoff || Weatherford, Okla. (PCEC) |
| Feb. 3 - vs Southern Arkansas (9-9, 4-8 GAC) |
| 11:00 am tipoff || Weatherford, Okla. (PCEC) |
| Click here for GAME NOTES (pdf) |
WEATHERFORD - SWOSU stays at home this week for two games with GAC foes they have faced once before this season. Arkansas-Monticello comes to town on Thursday and Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
Arkansas-Monticello heads into this matchup at 6-12 on the season and 2-10 in the GAC. Last week, they took down Southern Arkansas 72-63 and were defeated by Arkansas Tech 94-42. In the Division II era, SWOSU is 10-1 against UAM in Weatherford. The one loss came back on Valentine's Day of 2016. This will be the second meeting between these two teams this season. SWOSU took the first contest 74-69 on January 6 in Monticello. This game was very physical as SWOSU set a season high in free throws attempted and fouls drawn. They also set the second highest totals of the season in fouls and opponent free throws attempted.
Southern Arkansas is an even 9-9 overall and 4-8 in conference. They had started the season at 6-0, but have dropped nine of their last 12 games, including the last four straight. SAU has never won in Weatherford. The Lady Dawgs are 11-0 against Southern Arkansas at home and average 91.3 points per game across those contests. The first time these two faced off in 2023-24, the Muleriders handed SWOSU their largest loss of the season 88-55. Southern Arkansas' defense is one of the toughest in Division II. They rank sixth in the nation in steals per game (15.3), turnovers forced per game (26.56), and turnover margin (8.06).
SWOSU heads into February at 10-8 and 7-5 in GAC play. For the fifth straight week, they split their two games 1-1.
Northwestern Oklahoma State bested SWOSU 66-52 on last Thursday. The deciding factor in the game for the Lady Rangers was the interior. NWOSU scored 44 points in the paint to SWOSU's 18. Rebounding, which has hampered SWOSU all season, also led to the loss. Northwestern outrebounded SWOSU 49-31 and had 20 second chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
Against Oklahoma Baptist, the Lady Bulldogs defense started almost perfect in a 63-61 victory. SWOSU did not allow a field goal for the first eight minutes of the game and held a 25-9 lead after the first quarter. OBU fought back with two 21 point quarters in the second half and had the ball down two with 13 seconds left, but couldn't convert.
Averi Zinn averaged 12 points per game, 5 assists per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and 2.5 steals per game in the two matchups. The lead guard for the Lady Dawgs continues to be one of the best floor generals in the conference, ranking second in the GAC in both assists per game at 4.7 and assist to turnover ratio at 1.7.
In the two prior contests against these Arkansas schools, SWOSU had two of their three most efficient three-point shooting games of the year. They also had two of the three highest turnover totals as a team in those games.
