MSSU women's basketball to open season at MIAA/GAC Challenge

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's basketball team opens the 2018-19 campaign in Shawnee, Oklahoma for the MIAA/GAC Challenge hosted by Oklahoma Baptist who the Lions will play tomorrow at 7:30 pm before battling No. 20 Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday at 4:00 pm.

Game Information
Date: Friday November 9, 2018/Saturday November 10, 2018
Tip-Off: 7:30 pm / 4:00 pm
Location: Shawnee, Oklahoma
Site: Noble Complex 
Series Record: MSSU leads OBU, 3-2
MSSU and SWOSU tied, 4-4

Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: N/A
Audio: N/A
Webcast: https://obubison.com/watch/?Live=267&type=Live (Both)
Live Stats: https://obubison.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary (Both)



Picking Up the Scent: Five Components on Opponents 
Oklahoma Baptist

• Picked to finish sixth in the Great American
• 13 players from Oklahoma and Texas combined
• Top-20 nationally:
  • 12th in free-throw percentage (78.9)
  • 17th in scoring offense (78.0 ppg)
• Post-season Award Returnees
  • Red-shirt senior McKenzie Cooper: All-GAC (1st team) and finished fifth in the country in three-point shooting (45.8) and eighth in free-throw shooting (90.5)
• 1-5 in the opening weekend challenge and coming off back-to-back losing seasons for the first time this decade

Southwestern Oklahoma State

• Won the GAC regular-season championship last season for first time in the school's history dating back to the 2011-12 season ... looking for its third conference tournament crown (2011-12 & 2013-14)
• Top-10 nationally
  • 3rd in free-throw attempts (739) and makes (561)
  • 4th in scoring offense (83.7 ppg)
  • 9th in three-point field goal attempts (8.7 pg) and made (271)
• Post-season Award Returnees
  • Senior G Hailey Tucker: All-Central Region and GAC Player of the Year, D2CCA All-American (2nd team), and first bulldog to take NCAA Academic All-America honors
  • Senior G Hayden Priddy: All-Central Region (2nd team) and All-GAC (1st team)
  • Junior G Tyra Aska: All-GAC Defender of the Year (2nd team)
  • HC Kelsi Musick: GAC Coach of the Year (3rd time)
• Began the 2017-18 campaign by winning 23 of its first 24 games heading towards a semifinals birth in the GAC tournament, following with a first-round loss to Fort Hays State in the NCAA Central Region bracket
• 3-3 in the opening weekend challenge after sweeping a pair of contest last year in Joplin

Quick Notes
Stop the Polls 
The Lions enter this year chosen to finish to 10th in the conference after going 11-17 and 8-11 in MIAA play during the 2017-18 campaign. Defending NCAA Champions Central Missouri was chosen to win the MIAA with 13 first-place votes while Fort Hays received the remaining vote in second as Emporia State (3), Washburn (4), and Central Oklahoma (5) rounded out the top-5. Both UCM and FHSU are ranked in the WBAC National Poll at No. 1 and 12 respectively.

# Team Record Points Final Ranking
1 Central Missouri 30-3 595 1
2 Ashland 34-1 579 2
3 Carson-Newman 32-3 494 5
4 Union (TN) 32-4 493 4
5 Indiana (PA) 30-4 479 3
6 Alaska Anchorage 27-5 456 11
7 West Texas A&M 29-5 445 17
8 Bentley 28-4 415 12
9 Drury 31-3 410 7
10 Lubbock Christian 31-2 356 6
11 Edinboro 27-4 351 13
12 Fort Hays State 26-7 310 NR
13 Grand Valley State 26-7 267 24
14 North Georgia 29-5 241 23
15 University of the Sciences 30-4 239 15
16 Azusa Pacific 27-5 226 22
17 Florida Southern 25-5 225 NR
18 Virginia Union 28-3 218 16
19 Stonehill 29-4 165 8
20 Southwestern Oklahoma State26-5 155 20
21 Wingate 26-6 106 19
22 Black Hills State 24-8 101 NR
23 Valdosta State 23-9 84 NR
24 Northwest Nazarene 22-5 53 NR
25 Lewis 24-8 52 NR

Others receiving votes: Sioux Falls 47; Angelo State 35; UC San Diego 31, Augustana (SD) 17; Embry Riddle 15; Johnson C. Smith 14; LIU Post 14; Southeastern Oklahoma State 14; Southern Indiana 14; Emporia State 11; Hawaii Pacific 10, California (PA) 4; 7 teams mentioned on only one ballot for total of 58 combined points

Bold for MIAA members and Italicized for Central Region (Great American/Northern Sun)

Leader of the Pride 
Guard Chelsey Henry returns as the only senior from last year's squad and will be looked upon to make sure that all nine newcomers understand what it means to compete in what is the MIAA. She closed
out last year's schedule fifth in the MIAA in scoring (17.5 ppg), fourth in free-throw percentage (86.6%), and seventh in field-goal percentage (43.0%) to earn All-MIAA honorable mention while being just 130 points shy of breaking the 1,000 career-point barrier in the green and gold.

How many Transfers are we going to take before passing? FOUR!!! 
With eight players departing, the coaching staff mapped out the entire college basketball landscape in order to find four transfers and they did in the shape of 6'1 forward Laure Assena (Lipscomb University), 5'10 guard Chasidee Owens (Ouachita Baptist), 5'8 guard Destiny Cozart (John A. Logan), and 6'2 center Jordan Schoenberger (Independence CC).

Up Next
The Lions return to the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center for the home opener against NAIA Oklahoma Panhandle State of the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 pm.