ALVA, Okla. – A young and talented Lady Ranger basketball team will look to secure a Great American Conference postseason tournament spot after completing the first half of their conference schedule.

A young squad that features five freshman that have continued to grow into reliable contributors put together a record of 5-6 and currently sits in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference. Northwestern will play seven of their remaining eleven games on the road in the second half of the conference schedule, and will need to rely on continued growth as a team to push them into postseason contention.

That quest for the program's first conference tournament appearance will get startedagainst two teams that Northwestern defeated to begin conference play back on Nov. 16^th and 18^th. The Lady Rangers beat Henderson State by a final of 72-71 inside Percefull Fieldhouse and then turned around a few days later and bested Ouachita Baptist by a final of 77-66.

Much has changed since early November for all three teams, as Henderson State has won eight of their last nine contests and the Lady Rangers have seen multiple faces rise up and develop into key­ contributors as the season has progressed. Ouachita Baptist has also evolved into one of the league's best field goal percentage defenses, allowing opponents to shoot just 38 percent against them.

Those new faces that have emerged for the Lady Rangers could prove to be the difference makers in each of the weekend's games. Freshman Selena McDonald has continued to improve throughout the season and now leads the league with a field goal percentage of 70 percent. Fellow freshman Bailey Brown and Hanah Peterson have also improved in the post to compliment McDonald's efforts, as the two combined for 13 points and nine rebounds in the Lady Rangers most recent outing.

Point guard Jade Jones has also elevated her play in recent weeks as she continues to grow more familiar with her teammates and offense, and now leads the conference with an average of 5.5 assists per game. Jones has been joined in the backcourt by freshman Kinsey Neiderer, who dropped 23 points in the first meeting with Ouachita, and junior Bailey Forell, whose defensive intensity has disrupted the flow of multiple opposing offenses this season.

What has remained consistent for the teams involved in this weekend's series is the importance of the games themselves. Henderson enters the weekend in third place in the conference at 8-3, while Ouachita is one of the four teams that Northwestern is tied with for fifth place.

The games are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off Thursday evening against Ouachita and then a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday afternoon against Henderson State. Both games can be streamed live on riderangersride.com and can also be heard on alvaradio.com.