ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team will hit the road this weekend looking for two victories that will hopefully move them in position to make a late run at a postseason tournament berth.

After dropping their last four contests, the Lady Rangers now found themselves in a tie for 10^th place at 5-10 in conference play. This weekend's two opponents in Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello will both also be desperate for two victories over the weekend as the Muleriders sit one place ahead of Northwestern in the standings at 6-9 and the Cotton Blossoms sit one place below at 3-12.

Despite the losing streak, head coach Tasha Diesselhorst's team had two solid showings this past weekend against Arkansas Tech and Harding, two teams that have proven to be the class of the conference in recent seasons. Despite getting down on the wrong side of a 33-8 first quarter, the Lady Rangers outscored Arkansas Tech in the final three quarters of the game to provide themselves with some momentum heading into Saturday's contest.

That instant-classic showdown on Saturday ended in heartbreak for Northwestern, as a foul on the inbound pass with two seconds left gave Harding the opportunity to sink both free throws and escape with a 79-78 victory. Despite the loss, the weekend will provide Northwestern with confidence heading into two games against teams that the Lady Rangers will feel as if they can take down.

Northwestern will begin the series Thursday night at Arkansas-Monticello where they will face off against a squad known across the league for the physical brand of defense. That physicality has led the Cotton Blossoms to feature the 3^rd best scoring defense in the league, giving up just 66.4 points per contest.

Senior Brittnee Broadway has provided a bright spot on a squad that currently ranks 11^th in the league in scoring offense (62.1 ppg) and has consistently struggled to match their defensive consistency with their offensive consistency. The transfer from Mercer currently leads the team in both scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (5.1 per game), but has just one teammate in Charlynn Perry that is averaging double-digit scoring.

The Lady Rangers will rely on the scoring abilities of junior Jade Jones and freshman Kinsey Neiderer and Selena McDonald to combat the strong Arkansas-Monticello defense. Jones currently ranks 10^th in the league with a scoring average of 14.2 ppg while Neiderer posted 20 points last weekend against Harding.

McDonald netted a career-high 33 points against Monticello in the squad's first meeting back on Jan. 6. Coach Diesselhorst will almost certainly look to go back to McDonald in hopes of completing the season sweep over the Cotton Blossoms after their 78-69 victory during the last meeting.

Northwestern will then turn their attention towards a Southern Arkansas team that scored 48 second half points to come-from-behind and defeat the Lady Rangers at home, 63-59, back on Jan. 4. The Muleriders are coming off a weekend in which they defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central by a total of three points to put themselves back into postseason contention after beginning the season 0-9.

The Lady Rangers will look to inch their way closer to the program's first ever postseason tournament berth with games scheduled to tip-off on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.