COMING UP: at Park-Gilbert, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.; at No. 15 Arizona Christian, Saturday, 1 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Wednesday's game at Park Gilbert will feature a live stream via WTSM-TV (PPV), with stats available online through Stat Broadcast. Saturday's game at Arizona Christian will be carried on the GSAC Network, with stats available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024-25 season will posted online via the OIT Women's Basketball Flickr Page -including both weekend games, while highlight clips posted online via the OIT Women's Basketball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PARK-GILBERT: The trip to Arizona opens on Wednesday at Park Gilbert, as the Buccaneers (3-3) have played an extremely competitive preseason schedule. The Bucs are averaging 89 points per game and making 39-percent of their 3-point attempts – posting a road win at Rocky Mountain and hanging over 100 points in consecutive wins over Nelson. All-America guard Kayla Schroeder (17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) has connected on 54-percent of her 3-point tries this year, with Multnomah transfer Savannah Huerta (19.2 ppg, 2.1 apg) hitting 40-percent of her 3's. Alynna Palacios (12.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Larken Hoar (6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg) are key to Ben York's bunch. It is the first meeting between the teams.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – ARIZONA CHRISTIAN: The Owls close their trip to Phoenix with an afternoon match-up against Arizona Christian, ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA Top-25 poll. The Firestorm (5-0) are off to a tremendous start – including road wins at Carroll and Rocky Mountain, as ACU has held their five opponents to 56 points per game and force 20 turnovers a contest. All-America guard Alyssa Alvarez (15.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg) leads the squad, with fellow guards Graciela Roybal (12.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg) and Halle Payne (9.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), along with forward Emily Till (9.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg) all key options for the Firestorm. Head coach Rusty Rogers is a former Cascade Conference Coach of the Year at Western Oregon, leading WOU to NAIA national titles in 1995 and 1996. It is the first meeting between the schools.
 
FIRST TRIP TO THE DESERT: Tech will take on two Great Southwest Athletic Conference (formerly Golden State Athletic Conference) teams in Arizona – the first trip to Arizona for OIT and the first two games against teams from the Copper State. The Lady Owls are 12-13 all-time against GSAC clubs – a 10-11 mark against nine teams that have left the league to the NCAA Division I or II – with Tech 2-2 against current GSAC teams (Hope International and The Master's).
 
RECORD-SETTING WEEKEND ON THE GLASS: After struggling in the rebound department during their season-opening trip to Iowa, the Lady Owls made crashing the boards an emphasis during the Lithia Classic – with their effort on the glass a record-setting one. Tech pulled down 70 rebounds in Friday's win over UC Merced – tying the single-game school record first set last January vs. Multnomah – while between the two games, the Owls combined to outrebound their opponents by 79.
 
FORCING TURNOVERS: The Lady Owls defense has wrecked havoc on the four opponents this season – combining to force nearly 23 turnovers per game. The squad turned 27 turnovers in Saturday's win into 42 points – finishing the night with 18 steals, the highest total since a 19-steal effort last year against the same Cal Maritime unit.
 
SHARING THE BALL: In the two wins, OIT players combined to record 49 assists on the 76 made field goal attempts. Three players had double-digit assists in the tournament – Gabbie Gascon (11), Tatum Schmerbach (10) and Kendall Fealey (10).
 
ELQUIST NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the first time in her OIT career, forward Alexis Elquist was honored as Cascade Conference Player of the Week after leading the Owls to two wins at the Lithia Classic. The fifth-year senior opened the tournament with 12 points and six rebounds in Friday's win, before posting career-bests with 20 points and 15 rebounds vs. Cal Maritime. Elquist combined to make 14-of-24 field goals during the weekend.
 
SCHMERBACH HAS BIG CLASSIC: It was a huge Lithia Classic for sophomore Tatum Schmerbach – recording back-to-back big games. The forward led Tech with a double-double vs. UC Merced – scoring 18 points and tying a career-high with 15 rebounds – while a night later, slashing 14 points, four boards and six assists. For the year, Schmerbach is averaging nearly 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
TULL SISTERS KEY TO SUCCESS: The Lady Owls got contributions from both Tull sisters in their two weekend wins. Kennedy Tull combined for 20 points and 11 rebounds – scoring a season-high 13 vs. Cal Maritime, while grabbing a career-high seven rebounds vs. UC Merced. Maddyson Tull made 5-of-9 field goals in the tourney, finishing the event with 14 points and 10 boards.
 
RAMOS DOUBLES: Forward Jozie Ramos posted her third career double-double in Friday's win over UC Merced, scoring 12 points with 12 rebounds. The sophomore added 11 points vs. Cal Maritime, her third-straight double-digit scoring game.
 
ROLE PLAYERS STEP UP: Tech got solid play from their reserve guards, as Chelsea Ching, Brooke Anderson and Kendall Fealey each had big tournaments. Ching converted 4-of-5 field goals, combining to score nine points with three assists, Anderson recorded a career-high seven steals in Saturday's win over Cal Maritime, with Fealey recording her second career double-digit scoring game, scoring 10 points with a career-high eight assists.
 
FRESHMEN DEBUTS: True freshmen Avery Andrews and Annie Campos made their collegiate debuts in the Lithia Classic. Andrews combined for four points and nine rebounds in the two games – including six boards vs. UC Merced, with Campos recording a combined eight points and five rebounds in the tournament.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Last week, the Cascade Conference got a big boost from the four teams playing in tournaments – as along with Tech and Southern Oregon sweeping games in the Lithia Classic, Lewis-Clark State and Eastern Oregon each won games against Carroll and Puget Sound in Lewiston. On the flip side, Corban dropped two games in Alaska, with both Multnomah and Bushnell losing to Rocky Mountain. This week, SOU heads to California for games at Hope International and Life Pacific, EOU and College of Idaho both meet Simpson, with Northwest traveling to Montana Tech and Montana Western.
 
RECORD BOOK: Seven Lady Owls open the season ranked among the Top-50 in the OIT record book, led by Olivia Sprague, who is No. 2 in field goal attempts (1,133), No. 3 in field goals made (478) and steals (179), No. 4 in points scored (1,344) and 3-pointers made (165). No. 5 in 3-point attempts (427), No. 7 in free throws made (223), No. 8 in assists (306), No. 13 in free throw attempts (274), No. 16 in blocked shots (40), No. 18 in games started (76), ranking No. 19 in rebounds (459) and No. 32 in games played (90). Maddyson Tull is No. 6 in field goals made (464), No. 7 in free throw attempts (295), No. 9 in points scored (1,118), No. 11 in rebounds (530), No. 13 in field goal attempts (868), No. 16 in free throws made (183), No. 17 in blocked shots (39), No. 26 in games played (101) and No. 50 in assists (95); Kennedy Tull ranks No. 25 in free throws made (170), No. 28 in free throws attempts (225), No. 29 in 3-pointers made (47), No. 31 in 3-point attempts (141), No. 33 in games played (88), No. 42 in assists (118), No. 43 in points scored (591), ranking No. 46 in field goals made (187) and No. 50 in field goal attempts (441); Gabbie Gascon is No. 18 in assists (203) and free throws made (180), No. 20 in steals (109), No. 23 in 3-pointers made (64), No. 24 in 3-point attempts (198), No. 31 in free throw attempts (214), No. 39 in points scored (624), No. 44 in field goals made (190), ranking No. 48 in field goal attempts (462) and No. 50 in rebounds (233); Alexis Elquist is No. 18 in blocked shots (37), No. 34 in rebounds (357), No. 45 in 3-point attempts (61) and No. 49 in 3-pointers made (15); with Jozie Ramos No. 17 in blocked shots (37) and Tatum Schmerbach No. 40 in blocked shots (17) and No. 48 in both rebounds (247) and assists (98).
 
TECH FALLS OUT OF TOP-25: With their 2-2 start to the season, the Lady Owls fell out of the NAIA Top-25 poll, receiving 74 voter points from the 20 national raters in the Nov. 13 rating – ranked fifth among teams receiving votes. Southern Oregon climbed to No. 4 in the poll, LC State jumped to No. 22, with three non-conference opponents' in the ranking – No. 1 Dordt, No. 15 Arizona Christian and No. 21 Northwestern.
 
SUCCESS AT DANNY MILES COURT: Danny Miles Court has been a difficult place for opponents since Tech brought women's basketball back as a varsity sport in 2002. Over the past 23 seasons, the Lady Owls have won 76-percent of their home dates – posting a stellar 250-78 overall record – including a 2-0 mark this year. The 2012-13 squad finished the year with a 15-1 mark, while a season later, the Owls had a 16-2 record – at one point winning 19-consecutive home games. Every season since women's basketball returned to Tech in 2002-23, the Owls have had a winning record every season on their home floor.
 
SCORING 90, ALLOWING UNDER 50 EQUAL WINS: OIT has scored 90-or-more points in a game 39 times, posting a 36-3 record in the high-scoring contests. The Lady Owls are riding a 93-game win streak when allowing fewer than 50 points in a game, recording a 167-8 record in such games (last loss occurred in 2012, a 42-40 setback at Eastern Oregon).
 
UP NEXT: The Lady Owls will have Thanksgiving week off in preparation for the 22-game Cascade Conference schedule, beginning Dec. 6 at Eastern Oregon.