SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's Great American Conference slate begins this week with contests against Southwestern Oklahoma State (2-3) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (6-0). On Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m., the Bison host the Lady Bulldogs before a Dec. 2 trip to Alva to face the Rangers at 1.
The Bison Sports Network will cover the games with Todd Miller and Scott Wanish on the broadcast call.
Getman Goes Off
Sophomore
Jaedyn Getman was sensational last week as the Bison went 2-1 with wins against Midwestern State and St. Mary's and close loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville. She scored at least 20 in all three and pulled down a team-high 7.3 rebounds. Getman also shot 59 percent from the field and a ridiculous 85.7 percent clip from three. Of note, she became just the third Bison player in the Division II era to record three-straight games of 20 points. During the 2021-22 campaign, Kalifa Ford accomplished four consecutive games of 20+ points while Victoria Blankenship achieved four straight in the 2018-19 season.
The Offense Clicked
Well, mostly, OBU's offense was very solid last week. They averaged 71.3 points per game, made 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from three and 79 percent from the free throw line. Included in that was a season-best 53-percent shooting mark against St. Mary's, a 67-56 win. Getman led the charge with a 22.0 point-scoring average while
Madison Chambers averaged 11.7,
Parker Stevenson 10.7 and
Sydney Duncan and
Kennedy Large with at least 5.3 points.
Room for Improvement
The one bugaboo for the Bison has been turnovers. Their average of 16.2 per game ranks seventh out of 12 GAC schools. In the six-point loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville, the green and gold had seven 1st-quarter miscues which resulted in an 18-10 first-quarter deficit to the Javelinas. To date, the fewest turnovers OBU has committed in a game was 13 in the season opener versus Pittsburg State while the most was 21 against Midwestern State on Nov. 21.
We'll Take Your Candy
Through six games, the Bison have had a penchant for collecting numerous steals. They rank 38th in the nation registering 11.8 per game. Three different players have recorded at least 10:
Madison Chambers,
Kennedy Large and
Parker Stevenson. From the Nov. 11 game against Washburn through the Nov. 24 contest against Texas A&M-Kingsville, OBU recorded at least 11 steals. That's only the second time in the
Bo Overton era that the team notched four-straight games with double-digit steals. During the 2020-21 season, the Bison got 10+ steals between Jan. 21, 2021 against Northwestern and Jan. 28 versus SWOSU.
Getting the Monkey Off Our Back
In one of the more remarkable stats, the Bison have had their struggles at home against Southwestern. The Bulldogs have won seven straight games at the Noble Complex dating back to the 2017-18 season. The streak started with a 91-78 SWOSU win on Jan. 20, 2018 and most recently an 83-77 result on Jan. 19, 2023. Over the span of those seven games, Southwestern has averaged 83.8 points while the Bison have scored 73.4.
Contributing from Three-Land
One of the early bright spots for this Bison squad has been its ability to hit outside shots. They are fourth in the GAC with a 33.6 percent shooting mark. But a deeper dive into those stats shows an assortment of players contributing.
Kennedy Large is the team-leader with a 53.8 percent mark while Getman follows at 52.9. Plus, in four of the team's six non-conference games to start the year, multiple players have knocked down multiple threes. In the team's last game at St. Mary's, three OBU players connected multiple times from deep: Getman,
Faith Wright and Chambers.
Easy Does It
Outside of a 7-for-14 performance at the foul line against Pittsburg State, the Bison have been awfully good at the charity stripe. Since that season opener, the green and gold have hit at least 75 percent from the line, including a season-high 90.5 percent against Washburn. Currently, the Bison sit at No. 40 in the nation in free throw percentage (77.0). Leading the charge are these players: Stevenson (9/9), Large (2/2),
Aubrey Marjason (2/2),
Payten Conde (7/8; 87.5), Getman (20/24; 83.3) and Wright (5/6; 83.3).
The Rise of the Newcomers
While still early and with plenty of room to grow, OBU and its coaching staff have seen great promise from a handful of freshmen. Stevenson's 9.8 scoring average is third-best on the team. She has reached double-digit scoring in three of the last four games and her 2.3 steals per game is 12th-best in the GAC. Conde is coming off a season-high nine points versus St. Mary's while classmate
Catyn Graham had some clutch moments in the team's game against Texas A&M Kingsville on Nov. 24. Furthermore, Marjason, a 6-foot freshman forward had an 11-rebound effort against Oklahoma City on Nov. 17.
Let the Conference Games Begin
It's the opening week of Great American Conference action. The Bison host SWOSU on Nov. 30 before visiting the currently undefeated Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers in Alva on Dec. 2. A season ago, coach Overton's team started the conference slate 6-0 and were sitting in first place heading into the new year. That 6-0 start included wins over the Lady Bulldogs (72-52) and the Rangers (80-50).
Meet the Lady Bulldogs
Southwestern is coming off two losses to Lubbock Christian and Texas Permian Basin during the Lone Star Conference Crossover on Nov. 17 and 18, respectively. Those results dropped SWOSU's record to 2-3.
The Lady Bulldogs' two wins came against Washburn (63-58) on Nov. 10 in Shawnee before a 56-52 result over Oklahoma City on Nov. 14.
Averi Zinn, a former OBU player, and daughter of SWOSU Head Coach Jeff Zinn, leads the Lady Bulldogs with a 12-point scoring average. She also has a team-high 22 assists and shoots 84.6 percent from the foul line. However, despite shooting a team-high 82 field-goal attempts, Zinn is hitting just 25.6 percent and 19.4 percent from three.
Zinn also dishes out 4.4 assists per game, a mark that's second-best in the GAC.
Hailey Grant ranks 19th in the conference with a 5.2 rebounding average.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs are last, 12th, in the GAC in field-goal percentage at 30.8. They are also last in scoring (57.0), opponent field-goal percentage (44.4) and opponent three-point field-goal percentage (35.5).
Furthermore, Southwestern has had rebounding issues. It ranks last in combined team rebounds (32.6) and combined opponent rebounds (45.0).
Meet the Rangers
Northwestern has been on a tear to start the 2023-24 season. They are 6-0 and are one of only 26 undefeated teams in NCAA Division II.
Most recently, NWOSU defeated Chaminade University and Stanislaus State in Honolulu, Hawaii on Nov. 24 and 25, respectively.
The Rangers have averaged 85.3 points per game so far, a mark that ranks 11th in the nation. Northwestern also checks in at No. 13 in field-goal percentage (47.3) and seventh in assists per game (19.5). Additionally, the Rangers are slotted eighth in rebounding margin at plus-13.8 per game.
Forward Faith Simpson has been a key leader for Northwestern. Her 15.3 points average is ninth-best in the GAC and her two double-doubles rank 30th in the nation. Simpson also sits in fourth in the conference in rebounding (8.0).
Junior guard Josena Frame is the national leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. She's got eight assists with just one miscue.
Payton Jones, another junior guard, is slotted 18th in the nation in steals per game (3.5) and is ninth in overall steals (21).
Northwestern currently has a GAC-high three players ranked in the top-eight in field-goal percentage. Camille Thomas checks in at fourth (59.5) while Simpson (54.7) and Nikya Orange (52.4) follow in seventh and eighth, respectively.
