THE AGENDA
The OUAZ women's basketball team will get back to action on Saturday when they welcome Bethesda to town in the Spirit's final non-conference game of the season. The game will be played at Willow Canyon High School with tipoff scheduled for noon. It will be followed at 2 p.m. by an OUAZ men's game against Embry-Riddle.
 
Fans attending the game are encouraged to park on the south side of the gymnasium and enter the building through the west doors. Admission is free to all OUAZ home basketball games this season.
 
OUAZ will broadcast the game live on the NAIA Network and through the Spirit Game Central portal. The NAIA Network is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices by searching NAIA. Live stats will also be available during each game. Links for all live coverage is available at OUAZSpirit.com/live.
 
ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ heads into the final game of 2018 with a 5-4 overall record after picking up a 59-52 home win over Lincoln Christian on December 17. That win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Spirit and improved their home record to 3-3 on the season.
 
The Spirit will head into Saturday's game scoring 69.6 points per game behind 37.4 percent shooting. They have scored 70-plus points in a game five times this season and gone 4-1 in those outings. OUAZ makes 4.9 threes per game at a 22.8 percent clip and they convert 68.9 percent at the foul line. The team averages 12.3 assists with a 0.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
OUAZ opponents are averaging 65.7 points per game and shooting 35.2 percent from the floor. The Spirit have held the opposition under 70 points five times this season with a 4-1 record in those contests. In school history, OUAZ is 9-0 when holding an opponent under 60 points.
 
This season, the opposition shoots 27.6 percent from three with an average of 6.2 makes per game. The Spirit grab 45.3 rebounds per game and they are forcing 20.9 turnovers while averaging 10.9 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
 
Bailey Osmer continues to lead the Spirit in scoring at 16.4 points per game to rank fifth in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). Osmer has scored in double figures eight times, including a school record 36 against Arizona Christian on December 8. She also leads the team with 57 rebounds and 19 steals while adding 22 assists and five blocked shots.
 
Jorie Mayfield is second on the team in scoring 11.6 points per game. She has scored in double figures in each of the past six games and Mayfield is coming off her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Lincoln Christian on December 17. Mayfield grabs 6.1 rebounds per game and she has 10 steals and six blocks.
 
Alexis Smith scores 11.2 points per game and she has been in double figures five times. She had a career high and then school record 31 points against Benedictine Mesa on November 8. Smith leads the Spirit with 24 assists and is eighth in the GSAC with her 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
               
ABOUT BETHESDA
Bethesda will visit Surprise after playing at Embry-Riddle on Friday. The Flames start the week at 0-18 on the season and averaging 49.6 points per game. Victoria Sosa leads the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game with Asia Stamps adding 10.7 points per contest.
 
OUAZ swept two games from the flames last season, including a 71-62 win at home on October 24, 2017.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Next week, the Spirit will lead the state of Arizona for the first time since mid-November when they travel to southern California for a pair of GSAC games. The trip begins at No. 1 Vanguard on January 3 before playing at San Diego Christian on January 5.