ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Women's Basketball continues the opening week of conference play with a game against Harding University on Saturday afternoon scheduled with a 1:00 PM tip-off.

Both teams the Lady Rangers (4-3, 1-0) and Harding (4-2, 1-0) enter Saturday coming off an opening game conference win by 10 points. Northwestern beat Arkansas Tech while Harding was in Weatherford against Southwestern.

The two teams in the series history have been even as of late with a 3-3 record over the last six meetings. The Lady Rangers won the last meeting back on February 22nd in a 61-56 win. Overall Harding leads the series 20-3 over the Lady Rangers back to the 2012-13 season. 

Last time out the Lady Rangers used a fast start jumping out to a 16-4 lead followed by a 10-0 second half run after Arkansas Tech cut the lead to two as Northwestern won the conference opener 72-62. Lady Rangers led by Payton Jones with 19 points followed by Carly Craig finishing with 18. 

On the season the Lady Rangers are led by Payton Jones averaging 16.0 points per game this season. Lady Rangers overall have three double figure scorers along with Kennedy Hight with 12.3 and Carly Craig at 11.1. Hight leads the team with 29 assists for 4.1 per game followed by Carly Craig with 23 assists on the year.

Defensively, Camille Thomas leads the team with 17 steals on the year which is 2.4 per game. Kira Bass and Carly Craig each hit the double digit mark with 12 and 11 steals on the year. Bass leads the team with 4 blocks. Thomas has been the teams leading rebounder with 6.3 on the year. 

HARDING LADY BISONS 

Harding finished 3-2 in non-conference play before winning their GAC opener Thursday evening in Weatherford against Southwestern Oklahoma State. Like the Lady Rangers, Harding finished with a 10 point win. 

In the win they were led by Rory Geer's double-double scoring 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win. One of three double figure scorers joined by Sage Hawley with 13 and Josie Williams with 11. 

Sage Hawley leads the offense averaging 19.0 points per game as one of four players averaging double figures scoring. Aubrey Isbell scores 13.0 per game followed by Rory Geer with 12.7 and Josie Williams at 11.3. Williams leads the team with 17 assists on the season for 2.8 per game. 

Defensively, Josie Williams leads the team with nine steals on the year while Sage Hawley has nine blocks a team high along with five steals. Geer leads the team in rebounding with 9.0 per game followed by Hawley with 8.7

STAT OF THE GAME:

Harding looks to start 2-0 in conference play for the third straight season, while the Lady Rangers look to start 2-0 in GAC play for the second straight season. Carly Craig has scored over 1,000 points in her Northwestern career following her 18 point performance on Thursday and became the programs all time assist leader against Friends. 

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