ALVA / DURANT -- With six regular season games to go in the season, SWOSU Women's Basketball will travel to Alva and Durant this week to battle Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
As the season is coming to a close, SWOSU stands in fifth place in the conference with a 9-7 GAC record. They hold a two-game lead on Arkansas Tech and Ouachita Baptist for the spot, though the remaining Lady Bulldogs' schedule is tough.
Last week was the second time in conference play that SWOSU dropped back-to-back games. The Lady Dawgs were handed 67-62 and 62-53 losses by Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State.
Northwestern came to Weatherford back on January 25 and beat SWOSU 66-52. The Lady Bulldogs allowed 44 points in the paint and a Division-II season high 44 points to Lady Ranger forward Faith Simpson. Against Southeastern on December 2, SWOSU eked out a 52-49 win. Their 10-point second half lead disappeared into a one-point deficit with 1:18 left, when a steal and a block on two straight defensive possessions turned into easy layups that gave them the victory.
Northwestern Oklahoma State sits at 20-4 and 12-4 in the GAC. They have been in and out of the national rankings all year. This week they are receiving votes in the WBCA coaches' poll. Faith Simpson is their engine. She is averaging 22.3 points per game, the only GAC player scoring over 20 points a night. This average makes her the second highest scorer in Division-II.
The Rangers are solid all around. In the conference, they are the top scoring offense, the second scoring defense, the most efficient shooting team, and rank second in rebounding margin. Their 76.9 points per game also puts them 12th in Division-II in scoring offense.
Alva has not been kind to SWOSU lately. The Lady Dawgs will be looking to break a two-game losing streak on the road against the Rangers.
Southeastern Oklahoma State plays host to SWOSU on Saturday, after playing East Central on Thursday. They hold a 7-15 overall record and 3-13 conference record. They are tied for the last spot in the GAC with an outside chance to make the GAC Tournament.
Averi Zinn and
Mason Jones hope for another game like they had for SWOSU the last time out versus the Savage Storm. Between the two of them, they scored 42 of SWOSU's 52 points, hit 15 of SWOSU's 18 shots, and hit nine of SWOSU's 10 three-pointers. Jones was a perfect 7-7 from the field and 6-6 from behind the arc.
SWOSU is 9-1 in their last 10 games against Southeastern, but the one loss was in Durant in 2022-23. The home team historically controls the games between these two. SWOSU has an 18-10 home record and an 11-16 away record in the Division II series.
