SWOSU Sports
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
WEATHERFORD – One week after making their debut in the national polls, the SWOSU Women’s Basketball team has moved into the Top 20 in both the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) polls, which were released on Tuesday.
After going on the road to earn two tough Great American Conference victories at Arkansas Tech and Harding, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on the year and jumped six spots in the WBCA Top 25 poll to come in this week at No. 19. The jump was even higher in the D2SIDA poll, which saw SWOSU climb all the way to No. 14, where they sit tied with Michigan Tech this week.
At 8-0, SWOSU has their best start to a season of the NCAA Division II era (1997-present) and it’s the Lady Bulldogs best start overall since starting the 1992-93 season 11-0 en route to an appearance in the NAIA National Semifinals. SWOSU also remains the lone unbeaten team in Great American Conference play at 4-0, taking a one-game lead in the conference standings into the holiday break. Another big test looms for the Lady Dawgs before they break for finals, with a trip to Lubbock set for Thursday as SWOSU will face No. 6/5 Lubbock Christian at 6:00 pm.
SWOSU has claimed a GAC Player of the Week honor in three of the first four weeks of the season, with Hailey Tucker having won or shared the award in each of the last two weeks. Tucker leads the GAC and ranks in the top-10 nationally with 21.6 points per game while also ranking fifth in the GAC with 8.0 rebounds per game and she leads the league with 22 blocked shots. Tyra Aska – named GAC Player of the Week on November 14th – is the fourth-leading scorer in the league with 16.1 points per game and ranks second in the GAC with 26 steals while Hayden Priddy is sixth in the conference with 15.5 points per game, fourth with 4.1 assists per game and she’s shooting a league-leading 92.1% from the free throw line.