SHAWNEE – A big matchup for Oklahoma Baptist (12-8, 8-6 GAC) will take place on Saturday, February 5 at 1 p.m. as the Bison host Southwestern Oklahoma State at the Noble Complex.
The first-place Lady Bulldogs will look to complete the season sweep over OBU. In the previous contest on December 4 in Weatherford, SWOSU won by an 85-64 count.
Opportunity Awaits
Six wins, two losses. That's the record for OBU in its last eight games. And it has put the green and gold in very good position within the Great American Conference standings. In fact, coach
Bo Overton's team currently sits in fourth place. A win against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday would put the Bison in, at worst, a tie for third. With about a month left in the regular season, that would place OBU in its best positioning this late in the season since joining the GAC full-time in 2017-18.
A Ford To Be Reckoned With
Kalifa Ford accomplished something no other Bison player has since the program became full members of NCAA DII in 2017-18. She posted back-to-back double-doubles with at least 27 points and 11 rebounds. The latter total was delivered against Henderson State, and two days earlier, Ford went for 35 and 17 against Ouachita. Ford now has 10 doubles-doubles, which ranks her in the top-10 in the country. She also is one of three players in the GAC to rank in the top-10 in points (17.3), rebounds (9.3) and field goal percentage (48.4). Furthermore, Ford has now led the Bison in scoring and rebounding in 10 different games, including the last five.
No Benchwarmers Here
The Bison bench struck again last week, outscoring both Ouachita's and Henderson's in a pair of OBU victories. In the comeback win against the Tigers on Jan. 27, OBU held a 29-10 advantage.
Kennedy Large led the effort with 18. Then on Jan. 29, the green and gold led the category, 30-16, over Henderson State. This time, it was
Madison Chambers leading the way off the bench with a career-high 13. Those stat advantages marked the 15th time in 20 games that OBU outscored its opponents.
Gaining Consistency
As mentioned earlier, the Bison are 6-2 in the last eight contests. A deeper dive into the stats show why. OBU is averaging 77.9 points per game while opponents are scoring 70.3. The green and gold are also getting a little boost at the foul line, averaging about six more points there (18.2 - 12.3). Additionally, the team is notching 9.3 steals per game. It should come as no surprise; Ford is leading the team with 21.6 points per game in that stretch while
Mallory Lockhart is averaging 12 points. Furthermore, eight different players have hit at least 41.6 percent from the field.
Lockhart Long-Range Update
Lockhart made her 56th triple of the season on January 29 in the green and gold's victory against Henderson State. That total is second-best in the GAC and tied for seventh in the country. Lockhart's 41.8 percentage from deep is also 31st-best in DII and slots her fifth in the conference. This season, the junior has hit multiple threes in 13 games including a season-best seven in the contest against Washburn on November 13.
A Rising Program
OBU's 79-68 decision over Henderson State not only improved the team's record to 12-8, it helped the Bison notch their eighth GAC win of the season. That's tied for the most conference wins since OBU joined the Great American Conference in 2017-18. The program is also just one more win away from tying for the most overall victories in the DII era. In the 2017-18 campaign, the Bison registered 13 wins.
Last Time Out
Ford turned in another outstanding performance as Oklahoma Baptist defeated Henderson State 79-68 on January 29 in Great American Conference play at the Noble Complex.
With the win, the Bison improved to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the GAC, tying for the most conference wins since becoming a full member of NCAA DII in 2017-18. Additionally, OBU snapped HSU's seven-game winning streak in the series and moved into fourth place in the GAC.
Ford notched another double-double, this time scoring 27 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. The junior also made 9-of-12 at the foul line. Plus, Chambers provided a big lift notching a career-high 13 points. Chambers was perfect from downtown (3-3) as well.
Rounding out the Bison's top performers were
Jaylin Stapleton and Lockhart, both of whom contributed nine points and four assists.
Scouting Southwestern Oklahoma State
The Lady Bulldogs have been the cream of the crop in the GAC the last four-plus years. Since 2017-18, the program has amassed 117 wins, just 23 losses and posted a winning percentage of 83.5. They've won a pair of GAC Championships and played for the NCAA DII National Title during the 2018-19 campaign.
SWOSU is at the top of the GAC statistical categories in several areas including: scoring margin (+17); field goal percentage (44.0); assists (18.0); three-point field goal makes per game (10.3).
They also have the third-best scoring offense in DII (83.7), rank fourth in assists, second in defensive rebounds per game (31.2) and are slotted 39th in field goal percentage.
Individually, Makyra Tramble is arguably the best player in the conference. She is second in the GAC in scoring (21.0); 12th in rebounding (6.6); the leader in assists (4.8) and is fourth in steals (2.2). In the December 4 matchup against OBU, Tramble went for 24 points, four assists and two steals.
The Lady Bulldogs are the only team in the GAC to put three players in the top-15 in three-point field goal percentage. They are: Macy Gore (40.0); Lauren Ramey (38.6) and Morgan Smith (38.5).
SWOSU has been up and down as of late, going 3-2 in its last five games. That has included a 1-2 mark on the road with losses to Northwestern Oklahoma State and Harding.
In those two aforementioned games against the Rangers and Lady Bisons, SWOSU made 27.6 percent from three and just 50 percent (14-of-28) from the free throw line.
