SWOSU Women's Basketball gears up for an important week as they face league-leading Northwestern in Alva on Thursday before traveling to Shawnee to take on Oklahoma Baptist.

Last week, the Lady Bulldogs split their two matchups, defeating Southern Arkansas in an overtime classic before suffering a setback to Arkansas-Monticello, which gave the Blossoms their first conference win of the season.

Northwestern enters the game at 13-3 overall with an 8-2 conference record, sitting tied atop the league with Arkansas Tech and Harding, both teams the Lady Rangers have already beaten. Northwestern owns the fourth-ranked offense in the conference at 72.3 points per game while shooting the second-highest field goal percentage in the GAC at 43.5%. However, they make their money on the defensive end, allowing just 54.3 points per game, a mark that ranks inside the top 20 nationally. Opponents shoot only 34.9% against the Lady Rangers' smothering zone defense and just 28.6% from beyond the three-point line, the fourth-lowest mark in the GAC.

Kira Bass leads the Northwestern attack with 18.6 points per game while also pulling down 9.1 rebounds, the third-highest scoring and rebounding averages in the GAC. She also blocks 1.4 shots per game, which ranks fourth in the conference.

Since 2013, SWOSU leads the series 22-7, including an 8-6 record in Alva. However, last season in Alva, the Lady Dawgs were held to just 36 points, the first time they scored under 40 since 2015, also against Northwestern.

Against Oklahoma Baptist, SWOSU holds a 21-5 advantage dating back to 2009. In Shawnee, the Lady Dawgs are 8-3 in the series but did suffer an 83-52 loss last season on OBU's home floor.

Oklahoma Baptist is currently 7-9 overall and 3-7 in conference play after dropping five straight games. The Bison will face SNU on Thursday before hosting SWOSU on Saturday. OBU's offense produces 67.9 points per game, while the defense allows 67.8 points per contest, a margin of just 0.1. Jaedyn Getman has led the GAC in scoring all season at 21.1 points per game while also ranking fourth in the league in rebounding at 8.6 per game.

SWOSU now sits at 6-9 overall with a 4-6 conference record following last week's results. Offensively, the Lady Dawgs average 62.7 points per game while shooting 38.1% from the field and just 26.9% from three-point range, both ranking bottom two in the league. Defensively, SWOSU allows 65.1 points per game on 37.8% shooting from the field, the third-lowest mark in the conference, though opponents shoot 32.7% from beyond the arc, the second-highest percentage in the GAC.

Landry Allen averages 14.3 points per game, second on the team, while grabbing 6.9 rebounds, recording 2.1 steals, and leading the GAC with 4.2 blocks per game, a figure that ranks fourth nationally.

Sincere Jackson leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game on nearly 50% shooting from the field, and her 7.1 rebounds per game rank second on the team. Elle Papahronis adds a near double-double to the lineup, averaging 12 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, second in the GAC, while also contributing 2.4 steals per night, also second in the conference.