SURPRISE, ARIZ. - The Spirit are looking to make a statement in its second season in the GSAC, and show that there are major Improvements from the last two seasons. There is no better opportunity than taking on two top-five teams to open conference play.

OUAZ will host #5 Westmont on Thursday, and will welcome in #3 The Master's on Saturday. It is the first time in program history that the Spirit will play two top-five teams in back-to-back games.

The first two matchups with each school last season did not go the Spirit's way. OUAZ lost to Westmont 82-38 on Dec. 1, 2018, and fared better in the second matchup despite losing 61-49 on Jan. 24.

The Spirit have played The Master's three times in program history, losing all three. It was a close matchup in the first GSAC meeting between the two teams last season, as the Spirit lost 74-60 on Nov. 29, 2018.

While OUAZ has not fared well so far against the two teams coming into Faith Arena this week, it is a different Spirit team. They have a lot of talent all over the floor, and are going to need all of it to pull two upsets this weekend.

Taylor Davis is coming of a record-breaking game, as she scored a career and program high 38 points in the Spirit's 91-83 overtime victory against Westcliff on Nov. 30. Those 38 points are the second-most in a game in the NAIA this season.

Speaking of NAIA game highs, Davis scored all of her points last Saturday on 17 made field goals. That performance is a NAIA game-high, with the closest person coming in at 14.

Davis is turning into a breakout star, and she is a great player alongside freshman Natasa Radovic. Radovic is averaging a double-double per game, putting up 17.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Those numbers are good for third and fourth in the conference, respectively.

Radovic is also the conference leader in offensive rebounds, averaging 5.0 per game. On top of that, she comes in fourth in the conference in double-doubles, and she has put up three so far in six games.

The Spirit as a team rank high in a few categories in the GSAC. They lead the conference in assists per game (17.3), second in points per game (77.0) and second in rebounds per game (51.5)

Coverage of both games will be available on the OUAZ Game Central portal and the NAIA Network for $7.95. The NAIA Network is available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV devices. Live stats will also be available through Game Central at portal.stretchinternet.com/ottawaaz.

While OUAZ starts conference play this week, the non-conference portion of the schedule is not over yet. The Spirit will play four more games outside of the GSAC, and that stretch starts on Dec. 10 when they host SAGU American Indian College for the second time in 20 days.