ALVA, Okla.- Fans have been waiting a few years for a women's basketball game that means something to the conference standings to occur in Percefull Fieldhouse.

Head coach Tasha Diesselhorst has given Ranger fans that game already in her short career at the helm of the program.

The Lady Rangers (3-9, 2-4 in GAC) currently sit in a tie for eighth place in the Great American Conference standings. Eight teams make the conference tournament in March, making Thursday and Saturday's games against two other teams right around that magic eighth place number crucial to Northwestern this weekend.

"It's a huge game for us that means a lot especially coming back and playing at home," said Coach Diesselhorst, "The girls know that and they know where we are at in the standings and so we're approaching these games seriously knowing they're games we have to have if we're going to make the tournament."

Diesselhorst anticipates that this past weekend's games against Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State, especially the second half against Henderson State that proved to be arguably the team's best played half all season, will be a catalyst for things to come for the rest of the season. Despite dropping both of those contests, the Lady Rangers proved to themselves and the rest of the conference that they have the depth and offensive firepower to compete with anybody in the conference.

11 players scored points in the game against Ouachita Baptist last Thursday evening, showing that the black-and-red can generate offense from multiple different players besides leading scorers Kalea King and Kori Barrios. Coach Diesselhorst sees that developing depth and versatility of her squad as a problem for other teams when they scout and pregame for games against the Lady Rangers. That depth will also be appreciated over the course of the next 10 days, as Northwestern will compete in five contests throughout that stretch.

"It's a crucial part in the season and everybody's having to do it so it's not like we're the only one's playing a lot of games in a short amount of time," Said Coach Diesselhorst, "I feel like this is what we've been preparing the girls for, to go through this stretch and be mentally and physically tough. Being able to play multiple girls at multiple positions will be a strength of ours."

A successful stretch of games will surely vault the Lady Rangers up the conference standings and into prime position to make a run into the conference tournament. That run gets underway Thursday night against the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene at Percefull Fieldhouse. The Crimson Storm (5-5, 2-4 in GAC) are currently tied in eighth place with the Rangers at 2-4 in conference play. Southern Nazarene just completed a successful road trip, picking up two wins over Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello, the same teams the Lady Rangers defeated at home last month.

The Crimson Storm are led by one of the conference's best guards in senior Abby Boyd, who has been the recipient of numerous post-season accolades during her time at Southern Nazarene. On paper the match-up figures to be a battle between her and fellow Ranger standout King, who rank second and third in the conference in scoring throughout the young season.

Northwestern will then head to Durant, Okla. to face-off with another lethal shooter in the GAC in Southeastern Oklahoma State's Olivia Potter. Potter currently sits just behind King and Boyd in scoring averaging 15.0 points a game, and has made the most three-point field goals (36) in the conference this season. The Savage Storm (5-5, 3-3 in GAC) sit just ahead of the Lady Rangers in the conference standings at 3-3.

Southeastern comes across on paper as a very similar team to Northwestern, as their game plan on both sides of the ball seems to revolve around the three-point shot. The Savage Storm sit second in both three-point percentage and three-point defense, showing they are just as willing to stop the three-point shot as much as they are willing to shoot it.

Coach Diesselhorst and her Lady Rangers will have post-season aspirations in mind this weekend as tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night in Percefull Fieldhouse, and then 3 p.m. in Durant, Okla. on Saturday barring any adverse weather conditions that are anticipated throughout the state this weekend.