ALVA, Okla. - After alternating wins and losses coming out of the holiday break over the course of the month of December, the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team will be looking to make a mid-season run to solidify their spot in the Great American Conference postseason tournament.

The Lady Rangers are coming off of an impressive victory over Oklahoma Baptist at home inside Percefull Fieldhouse, followed by a tough loss to arch-rival Southwestern Oklahoma State on the road, and have shown signs of the offensive consistency that has been lacking at certain times throughout the season. Head coach Tasha Diesselhorst has seen four players score double-digit points in each of the past two games while posting the two most points scored in a single game in conference play during the last two games.

The 91 points in the 91-82 victory over Oklahoma Baptist and the 81 points in the 95-81 loss over No. 17 Southwestern illustrate that a young Lady Rangers team may finally be hitting their stride at the mid-way point of the season. Freshman Selena McDonald has been a major catalyst for that offense, as she has scored double-digits in three out of the last four games for Northwestern and leads the conference with a remarkable 70 percent field goal percentage from the floor.

McDonald has also made her mark felt under the glass for opposing teams, grabbing ten or more rebounds in four straight games and has jumped up to 10^th in the league with an average of 7.1 boards per game.

The Fletcher, Okla. native hasn't been the only Lady Ranger to step up on the offensive side of the ball as of late however, as junior Bailey Forell has produced the two best scoring outings of her career with 16 points against Oklahoma Baptist and 14 points against Southwestern in the last two ball games. Freshman Kinsey Neiderer has also gotten back on track after a rough offensive stretch following a solid start to the season, and led the team with 18 points against Southwestern.
Junior Jade Jones has continued to run the offense at a high level and currently sits second in the conference with an average of 5.3 assists per game.

As efficient as the offense has been in the last two contests for coach Diesselhorst, a reinforcement on the defensive pressure could be a highlight of this week's pregame prep-work as the Lady Rangers have allowed a lot of scoring chances in the last two games. Northwestern ranks 10^th in the league in scoring defense at 72.6 points per game and will need to pick up the defensive intensity in order to put together a mid-season winning streak that would prove valuable when considering post-season contention.

The Lady Rangers have a great chance to put together back-to-back wins during this weekend's upcoming home series with Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central. The Savage Storm have experienced an up-and-down season, largely attributed to the absence of junior Katie Webb, who before an injury that has sidelined her for the past five games was averaging 18.8 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Southeastern has managed just a 1-4 record during her absence and has struggled to replace her offensive production, ranking ninth in the conference in scoring offense (67.6 ppg). Senior Enem David has picked up the pace in the paint for the Savage Storm this season, as the four-year senior for the squad has five double-doubles on the year and ranks fourth in the league with an average of 8.8 boards per game. Southeastern has struggled to force turnovers this season, ranking at the bottom of the league in both steals and blocks per game.

As for the Tigers, last year's surprise team on the women's team that won seven of their last eight games to close the regular season will need some late-season magic again this season as they enter the weekend series losers of five straight games. East Central has struggled to find a presence in the post all season and rank 11^th in the league in rebounding offense (33.9 per game) and rebounding defense (45.5 per game).

They will feature however senior Devon Branch, who earned Second Team All-GAC honors a season ago and has posted 20+ point games four separate occasions this season. Branch ranks ninth in the conference with an average of 13.8 points per game while junior Kendall Schulte ranks third in the league with a three-point percentage of 48 percent.

Southeastern sits just one place ahead of the Lady Rangers in the GAC standings, while East Central is currently tied with a conference record of 4-5 with the Black-and-Red, making this weekend's games even more paramount for coach Diesselhorst and company. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday inside what figures to be an electric Percefull Fieldhouse.