SHAWNEE – The first-place and regionally-ranked Oklahoma Baptist (10-2, 6-0 GAC) women's hoops team will head to Harding and Arkansas Tech this week for a pair of Great American Conference games.
OBU is carrying a nine-game winning streak into the week, the 15th-best mark in Division II. That will be tested by both the Lady Bisons and Golden Suns. Since jumping to NCAA D2 in 2015-16, the Bison are a combined 1-11 on this road trip. The lone win came at ATU on Jan. 12, 2019 (63-59).
Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will provide commentary for both games. Plus, Miller's wife, Mary Margaret, will be playing the flute for the National Anthem when the Bison take on Arkansas Tech on Saturday.
Inside the Winning Streak
After last week's wins against Henderson State and Ouachita, the Bison have won nine straight. That is the 15th-best streak in D2. Here's a dive into the stats. OBU is averaging 73.7 points while holding opponents to 61.2. The green and gold are hitting 50 percent of their two-point shots while making 35.5 percent from three. They are also getting to the foul line almost 10 times more per game (17.1 to 7.4). On the defensive front, OBU is defending the three-point line well, limiting teams to 29.6 percent.
Not an Easy Road Trip
How good are the Bison? Well, we will find out after this week's Arkansas road swing. On Thursday, the green and gold will look to win at Harding for the first time since joining D2 in 2015-16. HU is 6-0 over the Bison in Searcy. As for the contest at Arkansas Tech in Russellville, the Golden Suns are 5-1 against the Bison at Tucker Coliseum. That said, the last meeting between the teams was a slim, 57-53 win for ATU.
One Incredible Feat
The Bison's game against Ouachita last week saw an amazing mark: twenty-one (21) consecutive free throw makes. This extremely rare occurrence is actually the second of its kind for OBU in the D2 era. On Feb. 1, 2020, the Bison hit 20 in a row against Henderson State. By game's end a few days ago, OBU had hit 22-of-23, a blistering 95.7 percent. That mark was the second-highest for the program in the D2 era only bested by a 95.8 performance against Southeastern on Jan. 11, 2018.
A Massive Advantage
As has been noted, the Bison women are among the top free throw shooters in the country. Coming into Thursday's game at Harding, OBU is third with an 81.2 mark. That's only 2.3 percent away from the nation's leader, Belmont Abbey (NC). For the Bison, six different players are hitting at least 80.5 percent:
Jaedyn Getman (92.3);
Malou Savanna (92.3);
Sydney Duncan (90.9);
Kennedy Large (90.50);
Erika Ankney (85.5) and
Madison Chambers (80.5).
A Real MVP
Erika Ankney has been one of the top catalysts for this year's OBU team. How important is she? Take this into account: she is the only player in the Great American Conference to rank in the top-10 in four categories. Those marks include a 19.1 scoring average (2nd); 85.5 percent free throw mark (3rd); 45 percent three-point shooter (4th) and a 51-percent field-goal mark (10th).
Look Out for Leslie
Jill Leslie has gotten into a groove lately. The forward has averaged 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, dished out nine assists and registered 12 blocks in the last four games. Leslie has also hit 56.7 percent from the field, which is the best mark for the Bison among those that have made at least 10 field goals. With her efforts, OBU has posted three straight games with four double-digit scorers. That's never happened before for a
Bo Overton coached Bison squad.
The Rise Continues
For the third straight week, OBU boosted its Central Region ranking. The D2SIDA poll came out on Jan. 9 and the Bison vaulted to the No. 5 spot. That is the highest-ever ranking for the program and the highest mark by a GAC institution this season. The Bison initially earned votes during the Week 5 (Dec. 12) poll.
Scouting Harding
Harding is coming off a fairly stunning loss at Southeastern on Jan. 7. In that game, the Lady Bisons fouled the Savage Storm with one second to go allowing SE to break a 63-all score. Of note, HU left a lot of points off the scoreboard as it hit just 14-of-27 at the charity stripe.
Coming into Thursday's game, Harding is the only team in the GAC to boast top-four marks in scoring offense and defense. HU is fourth in points per game (70.6) and third in scoring defense (60.5).
Of Harding's 59.9 shots per game, only 23 percent of those (14.1) are from three. And it's for good reason coach Tim Kirby limits his team's attempts from deep: they have 6-foot-4 Sage Hawley. She's the league leader in points per game (19.5) and ranks sixth in field-goal percentage (54%).
As mentioned earlier, Harding missed a ton of freebies at Southeastern. Currently they are 10th of 12 in the GAC in free throw percentage (67%). The Lady Bisons are also 11th in turnover margin (-1.92).
The biggest advantage HU has over OBU is rebounding. They are averaging 42.2 (2nd) rebounds per game while the Bison are 10th (34.3).
Harding only has one other scorer in the top-25 of the GAC in points. Jacie Evans ranks 21st with a 12.3 average while ranking fourth in rebounds (8.0 per game).
Scouting Arkansas Tech
The Golden Suns present another worthy challenge for OBU this week. ATU is the GAC leader and rank 11th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (34.3). Their offense is quality, too, checking in at No. 29 in points per game (75.3).
ATU's biggest issue is three-point shooting and defending. They are 11th in three-point field-goal percentage (28.7) and 10th in the GAC in defending the three (31.9).
Jalei Oglesby is the Golden Suns' biggest threat. She is averaging 18.4 points per game, a mark that's fourth in the GAC. Oglesby is also fifth in field-goal percentage (54.7).
Dana Thompson and Sarah Edmondson each rank in the top eight of the GAC in blocks per game (0.9).
In the six previous games against OBU in Russellville, ATU has limited the Bison to a 61.8 points per game average.
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