SHAWNEE – After four straight matches away from Bison Hill, Oklahoma Baptist (1-7, 0-3 GAC) returns to campus to compete with Harding (2-4-1, 1-1 GAC) on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.
OBU has done well in its series with Harding, leading 15-6-1 since 2015. The two teams split last season's meetings. Of note, HU has won each of the last three meetings in Shawnee in 2023 (2-0); 2024 (4-1) and last season, 2-1.
Below are notes on both teams.
For the Bison:
OBU's two matches last week resulted in 2-0 and 3-0 defeats at Northwestern and Ouachita. Those results pushed the Bison's GAC record to 0-3, the first such occurrence since 2015, a D2 transitional year.
In four of eight matches this fall, the green and gold have been shut out. Also of note, OBU has taken the fewest shots on goal (38) of any team in the league. They also have only scored five times, fewest in the GAC.
Sophomore
Camden Ocheskey leads OBU and is slotted eighth in the GAC with eight shots on target. She's also the team's leading scorer with a pair of goals.
Freshman
Ryann Phillips continues to lead the Bison with two assists.
In the team's last match at Ouachita, freshman goalie
Emilia Gallego made her first appearance since Aug. 27 versus Midwestern State. In 63 minutes of action, she made six saves.
A defeat on Saturday would mark the first time in school history that a Bison squad dropped its first four GAC matches.
For Harding:
HU gave up two goals in the final 5:30 minutes to Southern Nazarene and lost 2-1 on Sept. 23 in Searcy.
Harding has not won at home in four matches this year (0-3-1). However, they have won twice on the road. Those results came Aug. 27 at Christian Brothers (1-0) and at East Central on Sept. 16 by a 4-0 tally.
Head Coach Audrey Adkison is in her first year at Harding, replacing long-time coach Dr. Greg Harris.
Statistically, Harding is the top shooting team in the GAC, tallying 18.86 shots per game. However, they have only scored six times, which is sixth out of seventh.
Mykala Ulrich leads the team with two goals and an assist for five points. Teammate Blair Rowlett has assisted on two goals, a team-high.
Maysa Willis has started six matches in goal for HU. She's got a 1.26 goals against average and has a save percentage of .682.
