The OUAZ women's basketball team will return to the hardwood on Thursday when they face Benedictine Mesa. The second game of the season for OUAZ will tip at 7 p.m. from Willow Canyon High School. Admission is free all season long for OUAZ basketball.
 
Thursday's game will be streamed live on the OUAZ Game Central portal and on the NAIA Network. The cost to view the game is $7.95. The NAIA Network is available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku devices by searching NAIA.
 
OUAZ will also provide live stats during the game. Links for all live features are available at OUAZSpirit.com/live.
 
The latest news and information on OUAZ women's basketball can be found at OUAZSpirit.com, by downloading the OUAZ Athletic app from the Apple and Android app stores, and by following the Spirit on social media by searching OUAZSpirit and OUAZWBB.
 
ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ opened the new season with a 91-61 win over Saint Katherine on October 27 at Willow Canyon High School. In the win, OUAZ shot 44.7 percent from the floor and hit on 3 of 19 from beyond the arc. They held USK to 32.8 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers.
 
Bailey Osmer led the Spirit with 19 points and nine rebounds. Alexis Smith added 16 points and six assists. Mai'Zhrae Zeno scored 14 points with seven boards.
 
Last season, the Spirit finished with an 8-11 overall record. They won the final four games of the season and seven of the last nine. The Spirit finished 3-2 at home, 5-7 on the road, and 0-2 at a neutral site.
 
Offensively, the Spirit scored 63.4 points per game while shooting 36.2 percent from the field. They made 5.6 threes per game at a 28.1 percent clip. OUAZ shot 65.0 percent at the foul line and they averaged 11.6 assists per game with a 0.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
The opposition ended the year scoring 66.8 points per game while shooting 39.6 percent from the field. Opponents hit on 5.3 three-pointers per contest in shooting 27.2 percent from deep. OUAZ averaged 42.7 rebounds per game with a 0.1 rebounding margin. Spirit opponents averaged 17.4 turnovers per game with OUAZ getting 8.8 steals per game.
           
ABOUT BENEDICTINE MESA
Benedictine will open their regular season against the Spirit on Thursday. The Redhawks dropped an exhibition against Grand Canyon on Monday night, 72-60, and they outscored GCU 40-34 in the second half. Grace Russell led BenU with 11 points and Sarah Kruthaupt added 10.
 
OUAZ dropped both meetings with the Redhawks last season. They fell 66-63 on November 13 at home and then 67-56 on December 2 at Mesa.
 
JOINING THE GSAC
OUAZ will play a full Golden State Athletic Conference schedule this season as a first-year member of the NAIA. The Spirit are not eligible for GSAC or NAIA postseason play during this first year of membership. The preseason coaches' poll had OUAZ picked to finish eighth in the 10-team league.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following Thursday, the Spirit will play their next four games on the road. The stretch begins at Saint Katherine on November 14 and continues on November 15 at Westcliff. After playing an exhibition at Utah Valley on November 17, the Spirit will head to BenU Mesa on November 24.