SHAWNEE – Bison Women's Basketball hosts Southern Nazarene Thursday and heads to Alva for a Saturday afternoon meeting with NWOSU.
Oklahoma Baptist Women's Basketball will split the week with one home game and a road match as the Bison start the week in home territory and finish the week in Alva.
Thursday's action will see Southern Nazarene come to Bison Hill for a 5:30 p.m. tip off. Saturday afternoon will have the green and gold make their way to Northwestern Oklahoma State University for a 1 p.m. start time.
Bison Notes
- OBU WBB comes into the matchup with SNU after splitting the previous week of action at 1-1. The green and gold fell short against Harding with a 71-67 final in Shawnee, but the Bison redeemed themselves with a 20-point victory over Arkansas Tech on Saturday at 79-59.
- In the previous week of play, Mackenzie Crusoe totaled 43 points averaging 21.5 per game. In 58:04 minutes played, Crusoe went 56.7% from the field 33.3% from the three and 100% from the line. Crusoe leads OBU in scoring with 371 total points to average 16.9 per game, ranking third in the league. The Choctaw, Okla., native, also leads the Bison in assists (77) for sixth place in the GAC, and steals (38) for sixth place in the conference. #20 for the green and gold is shooting 41.4% from the field (122-295), 28.7% from the three (35-122), and 84.4% from the line (92-109), ranking amongst the 10 in the GAC in multiple categories.
- Sierra Copeland continues to lead the Bison defensively with 23 blocks and 108 rebounds to average 5.1 per game. Copeland has totaled 28 steals and 24 assists for OBU, while shooting 48.1% from the field at 25-52. The OBU senior totaled three blocks, six rebounds and one steal in the most recent week of action.
- The green and gold are currently ranked fourth overall in the GAC. The Bison offensive is ranked second while the defense falls into fourth place, ranking OBU third marginally. OBU is first in three pointers made with 203 on the season, averaging 9.2 per game. Team free throw percentage sees the green and gold in second place at 80.6%. The Bison are also first in blocked shots with 96 blocked shots on the season, averaging 4.36 per game. OBU Is also third in assist with 303 overall, averaging 13.77 per game.
- Payten Conde and Katelyn Davis rank amongst the top 10 in the league in 3 pointer percentage with Conde in fifth place at 41.1% and Davis in seventh at 39.1%. Crusoe is also fourth in the conference in free throw percentage at 84.4%. Crusoe and Davis represent the Bison in top 10 three pointers per game with the pair averaging 1.6 in a tie for seventh place. Leslie and Sierra Copeland represent OBU in blocked shots with Leslie in fourth place at 1.2 per game, totaling 21 this season as Copeland tallied 1.1 per game at 23 total for fifth place.
Crimson Storm Notes
- The Crimson Storm are coming into Thursday's matchup with a 17-5 record overall and a 14-2 mark in conference play. Southern Nazarene's pair of a losses are to NWOSU (55-50) from the earlier part of GAC play, and Harding (67-63) from the meeting in early Jan. The most recent meeting with OBU saw a 63-56 final for SNU at home.
- The Crimson Storm is coming into the Thursday evening matchup on a nine-game win streak. Ironically enough, as the last loss for SNU came to Harding, so did the most recent win. In the most recent matchup for the Crimson Storm, a four-point win over Harding (68-62) gave SNU the edge and first place in conference standings.
- Hannah Giddey is the leading scorer for SNU with 356 points on the season to average 16.2. At 160-316, Giddey is 50.6% from the field and 53.7% from the line. #5 has totaled 209 rebounds to average 9.5 per game, with 92 assists, 51 blocks and 25 steals. In the most recent round of GAC awards, Giddey received GAC Defensive Player of the Week.
- Hannah Duncan is another big defensive contender with the second most blocks on the team at 15 and the second most rebounds at 89, averaging 4.0 per game. Duncan has totaled 16 steals and 25 assists while shooting 31.5% from the field (29-92), 26.4% from the three (14-53) and 57.7% from the line (15-26).
- Southern Nazarene is ranked sixth offensively and first defensively, ranking the Crimson Storm second marginally. SNU is ranked third in team percentage from the field at 41.8%. The Crimson Storm is ranked second behind Oklahoma Baptist in blocked shots at 3.95 per game, totaling 87 on the season, nine blocks behind the leaders in green and gold.
Lady Ranger Notes
- The Rangers are due to face SWOSU on Thursday evening prior to the Saturday meeting with OBU. As of Wednesday, NWOSU is on a two-game winning streak after a big 81-45 win over Henderson State and a 66-60 final over Ouachita Baptist in their most recent game.
- NWOSU is sitting at 12-10 overall and 9-7 in conference play, ranking fifth in the league, two wins behind Oklahoma Baptist. The Rangers will face SWOSU on the road but the home record for NWOSU sits at 11-2.
- In the prior meeting with OBU, the Bison defeated the Rangers on Bison Hill with an 83-70 final.
- NWOSU has the number three offense in the league with the number eight defense, placing the Rangers in fourth marginally. NWOSU ranks fourth in team three pointer percentage at 32.8%, and team free throw percentage at 77.4%. The Rangers are third in combined team rebounds (37.3 per game), and first in team offensive rebounds (14.1 per game). NWOSU is first in steals (9.77 per game), fourth in assists (13.00 per game) and sixth in blocked shots (3 .00 per game).
