SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team turns the calender to March and looks to make some noise as they enter the first round of the GAC Women's Basketball Tournament against rival and No. 3 seed Southern Nazarene on Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center.
Monday's game will be featured on the Bison Sports Network on theÂ
OBU YouTube channel with play-by-play man Todd Miller and color commentator Scott Wanish. It will be an audio only broadcast.
The Bison are one week removed from playing the Crimson Storm inside the Noble Complex, where OBU fell 56-45 on a dreadful shooting night, finishing at a season-low 26 percent. The Bison responded in the next two games with terrific offensive outputs, shooting 38 percent in the win over East Central and 43 percent in a loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State.
OBU went 1 of 11 a week ago in Shawnee against SNU, but since have combined for 19 3-pointers including 11 in the win over East Central.Â
The Bison have also done a great job on the glass. In four of their last five contests, OBU has finished with 39 or more rebounds and have had double digit offensive rebounds in those four contests including a season-high 18 against SWOSU on February 13th in Weatherford.
In their first meeting, a 10-0 run in the last minute of the fourth quarter gave SNU a 71-63 win over OBU on January 25th in Shawnee thanks to 15 points from Payton Jones including a late go-ahead 3-pointer while Kennedy Gillette added 14 points.
Charissa Price led OBU with 16 points while
Jaylin Stapleton added 14 and
Andreja Peciuraite had 13 points and nine boards.
Later in the year on February 8th in Bethany, the Bison were dominated in the paint as SNU took a 72-60 victory behind 24 points and four blocks from Abby Niehues and 13 points from Emily Monaghan. Stapleton led OBU with 15 points and five steals while Price had 11 points.
SNU made it a 3-0 year against OBU with the February 22nd win last Monday. Both teams shot under 30 percent as Gillette had 12 points, 10 boards, four steals, and four blocks to pace SNU while Georgia Adams added 12 off the bench.
Kalifa Ford was the lone bright spot for OBU offensively with 17 points off the bench.
Ford continues to lead the Bison in her return from injury and continues to be a huge factor, averaging 15.6 points per game to go with 6.5 rebounds per game. Ford has scored in double digits in six straight games and is averaging 20.0 points per game in her last four outings. Ford had a season-high 14 rebounds in the win over ECU, just one off her career high, and has six steals in the last four games.
Stapleton picked a wonderful time to break out of a shooting slump and hit a new career mark as she scored 21 points on Senior Day to go with three 3-pointers. She averages 11.1 points per game to go with 3.7 rebounds per contest and 3.9 assists. She also leads the team in steals with 22.
The Bison will need Peciuraite to return to form as the junior from Lithuania has struggled in her offensive output as of late, unable to break double digit points in three straight contests including four of her last five games. Peciuraite comes in with 10.6 points per game to go with 7.0 rebounds per contest and 12 blocks.
Price checks in with 7.8 points per game despite cooling off from deep as of late while
Kayla Highfill adds 4.9 points per game with 11 steals.
Jenni Beebe,
Kaylee Hurst, and
Melissa Southard provide valuable minutes off the bench while
Malou Savanna in 5 of 10 (50%) from deep in her last two games.
SNU finished the season 9-7 overall and in conference, but dropped the final game of the season, losing out on the No. 2 seed to Southeastern Oklahoma State and settling for the No. 3 seed and the right to host a first round contest.
Payton Jones continues her terrific freshman campaign with 13.5 points per game and 3.3 rebounds while Cassandra Awatt adds 10.3 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per contest. Gillette pours in 9.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds while Alexus Jones adds 9.6 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game with a team leading 59 assists.
Niehues has given OBU trouble as she comes in with 8.6 points per game and a GAC leading 52 blocks while Monaghan adds 8.3 points per game.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday night inside the Sawyer Center in Bethany.
