OBU Women’s Basketball opens 2025 road schedule at Arkansas Tech Thursday afternoon

SHAWNEE – Bison Women's Basketball hits the road for the first time in the new year, set to take on the Golden Suns in Russellville, Arkansas.
Oklahoma Baptist is headed to Arkansas Tech for a 3 p.m. meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Bison Notes

• The green and gold fought their way back to the win column with an impressive 83-70 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State University to kickstart the new year to claim their most recent win. 
• The Bison are 5-1 in conference action with a 9-3 record overall. OBU heads into Thursday's game ranked second in the league.
• In the most recent outing for the green and gold, Katelyn Davis played a big part in the success story for OBU with 15 points on the evening, leading the Bison in scoring for the first time this season. The freshman went 6-11 from the field, 50% from the three and totaled five rebounds over 24 minutes of play. 
• Jill Leslie also contributed to OBU's efforts, leading the pack with four blocks, a new season high, four rebounds, one steal, and 13 points, going 5-6 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from the line. 
• The Bison continue to lead the league in team free throw percentage at 83.7%. The green and gold are also third in blocked shots per game (4.08) and assists per game (13.67).
• Mackenzie Crusoe heads the scoring efforts for Oklahoma Baptist, averaging 17 points per game, ranking third in the GAC in scoring. Crusoe, Sierra Copeland and Leslie each sit in the top 25 in rebounds per game with Copeland averaging 5.3 points per game and Crusoe and Leslie tallying 5 per game. Payten Conde ranks ninth in the conference in three-point percentage (42.4%), Davis sits in 11^th(37%), and Sydney Duncan in 19^th (34.5%), Kennedy Large in 20^th (33.3%) and Catyn Graham rounds out 24^th (31.3%). 
• Crusoe is seventh in free throw percentage (84.1%) and three pointers per game, averaging 1.8 threes per game. Davis, Large and Conde also represent the Bison in the top 25 of threes per game. Crusoe and Conde are also ranked in assists per game with a 3.4 average for Crusoe to sit fifth in conference, and Conde averaging 2.3 for 18^th in the league. Copeland and Leslie each earned a spot amongst the top 10 in conference in blocked shots with Copeland in fourth (1.3) and Leslie in eighth (1.0). Conde is also ranked in blocked shots at 23^rd in the category. Crusoe ranks fifth in steals per game (2.1), Copeland comes in 13^th (1.5) and Conde is 24^th (1.3). 

Golden Sun Notes

• The Golden Suns are headed into the Thursday afternoon meeting on a four-game losing streak. The most recent loss for Arkansas Tech came from a tough 73-57 final against Ouachita Baptist. 
• ATU posts a 1-5 conference record and a 3-7 overall mark. The lone conference win for the Golden Suns came in the form of a 75-70 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University in their second outing of conference play. 
• Julie Wagner is the leading scorer for the Golden Suns with a total of 106 points on the season, averaging 10.6 points per game. Wagner is shotting 53.1% from the field and 69% from the line. #30 for ATU also leads the team in rebounds (74) and blocks (12). 
• Another key player for Arkansas Tech is Andie Zylak with 17 steals and 36 assists, leading the team in both categories. Zylak has tallied seven blocks and is shooting 41.2% from the field. 
• ATU leads the league in combined team rebounds at 42.4 per game. The Golden Suns are also ranked second in blocked shots per game at 4.40.
• Arkansas Tech has three representatives in the scoring category with Wagner ranked 18^th (10.6), Hayleigh Wyrick in 23^rd (9.9) and Olivia Jones at 24^th (9.9). Wagner also ranks fifth in rebounds at 7.4 per game. AbbiGrace Cunningham is also ranked in rebounds per game, taking 18^th with an average of 5.2. Wagner is ranked fourth in field goal percentage (53.1%) with Dessie McCarty sitting in sixth (51.7%). Wyrick, Cunningham and Wagner all earned a spot amongst the top 25 free throw percentages in the GAC. 
• Cunningham is second in the conference in three-point percentage at 50%, going 10-20. Jones is ranked 18^th in percentage from the three at 34.5%, going 19-55 ranking sixth in threes per game at 1.9 per game. Zylak ranks fourth in assists per game at 3.6 per game while Jones comes in 16^th at 2.4 per game. Wagner and Zylak represent ATU in blocked shots statistics with Wagner in fifth at 1.2 per game and Zylak at 13^th with 0.7 per game. Zylak also sits in ninth in steals per game at 1.7 per game and Wyrick rounds out 25^th at 1.2 steals per game.