Game Notes

Date: November 23, 2021
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, Mo.

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist continues their home stretch following Saturday's dominating win over Haskell University. Current MIAA member Rogers State visits Bolivar for Tuesday's matchup.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
In their first year as full-time members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the SBU Women's Basketball team finished 15-13 (9-11 GLVC) on the year. The GLVC allows just 8 teams to make the conference tournament. Finishing 10th out of 16 teams in the GLVC, the Bearcats narrowly missed the conference tournament for the second straight year.

The 2020-21 season was a shortened, conference opponent only season due to COVID-19. In that shortened season, SBU finished with a 5-14 record. Their strongest portion of the season came in January, as the team won 4 contests, 3 of those in a row. Arguably their best win came on the road against Maryville, defeating the Saints 100-97 in double overtime. Returning for an extra year of eligibility is All-GLVC selection, Kyleigh Vaught. She started 18 games last year, leading the team with 564 minutes played, scoring 261 points which averages to 14.5 per game (20th in GLVC). From the free throw line, Vaught shot 66-75 (88.0%) which led the conference. Vaught also led the team in three's made (27), assists (41), and steals (26). Eight other Bearcats return from the 2020-21 roster, including Brylee Graddy, Rachel Tippens, Nyah Pettus, Mary Rose Foster, Gabriella Capasso, Natalie Basham, Bella Irlenborn, and Alyssa Williams.

The Bearcats are 2-2 on the season so far, splitting their opening tournament at Nashville, TN and splitting their home schedule with Missouri Western and Haskell. In the opening contest, SBU fell 75-66 to a solid Kentucky Wesleyan team who upset #2 Drury the next day. SBU was neck and neck with the KWC through the first 3 quarters, falling behind in the final frame. Missouri Western defeated SBU in Bolivar 70-45, but the Bearcats bounced back with a strong 88-43 win over Haskell most recently. Kyleigh Vaught is the team leader with 48 points on 44.4% shooting and 43.8% from deep. Mary Rose Foster, Kelsey Blakemore, and Micah Clayton each have hit the 30-point mark, Nyah Pettus and Brylee Graddy just a couple points from that mark. Foster leads the team with 24 rebounds, and has 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks as well. Faith Gilkey had a strong outing against Haskell, now 5-6 from three, 9 assists, and 4 steals so far

SCOUTING THE HILLCATS
The Rogers State Hillcats come into Tuesday's matchup with an identical record at 2-2. Their opening tournament was held in Warrensburg, MO, defeating Minnesota-Moorhead 85-63 but falling to Northern State 82-74. Following that tournament, RSU put the stomping on Bacone College, defeaing their opponents 101-32. Most recently, the Hillcats fell to Southern Arkansas 84-76 in Claremore. The offense is high-powered, averaging 84.0 points per contest. Bailey Kliewer is the team leader at 60 points on 52.5% shooting from the field, and has a team-high 26 rebounds so far. Julie Luna has recorded 54 points on an incredible 20-28 shooting from the field and 7-10 from deep. Vanessa Gajdosova handles the ball quite frequently, dishing 19 assists this year.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Kelsey Keizer begins her eighth season on the SBU bench after compiling a 86-104 (49-88 conf.) record while at SBU. Coach Keizer led the Bearcats to back-to-back-to-back winning seasons (2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18) for the first time since the 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2002-03 seasons. Since joining the GLVC in 2019, Keizer has had three AllGLVC selections.

Kyle Bent returns to the Hillcat bench for his fourth season as the head coach. Since taking over in 2018-19, Bent has led the team to an 18- 38 record. In the shortened COVID season last year, Bent guided the Hillcats to a 6-16 finish, defeating Washburn 53-50 on the road and ending the season with a 62-59 win over Northeastern State.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the all-time series 2-1, all meetings taking place since 2016-17. Rogers State took the most recent matchup, 70-68 in Claremore in 2019-20.