SURPRISE, Ariz. – The OUAZ women's basketball team split an important pair of conference games last week, and face two more as the race for the conference tournament heats up. They will take its talents up to Northern California as they take on Menlo and William Jessup.

The Spirit stop 30 miles northeast of Sacramento to take on William Jessup on Thursday night. OUAZ is still searching for its first win over the Warriors, but they have come close in the past two matchups. The Spirit lost a 75-64 decision at home back on Jan. 19, 2019, then dropped the rematch on the road 64-54.

A drive to the South Bay will be next on the docket for OUAZ, as they take on Menlo College Saturday afternoon. The Spirit are also searching for its first win against Oaks and came very close to pulling the upset over then-22nd ranked Menlo in Atherton last season, losing by only seven.

It is a major series for the Spirit, as they are tied with three other teams for the final two conference playoff spot. One of those teams is Menlo, who hold the same 3-4 record in conference play as OUAZ. The Spirit are also tied with Arizona Christian, whom they hold the tiebreaker over thanks to the Jan. 4 victory in Glendale.

That makes the loss against Hope International last week hurt a little bit more, as now the Royals hold the tiebreaker over OUAZ. If the Spirit defeat William Jessup (4-3 in GSAC), OUAZ will be in a tie for the fourth seed, and have a chance to end the weekend there all alone in that spot.

If the Spirit are going to solidify themselves in the standings, they are going to need to continue to get big performances out of Natasa Radovic. She is averaging a double-double, scoring 17.5 points and grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game. Radovic ranks 15th in the NAIA in the category, recording seven such games this season.

Mai'Zhrae Zeno has come up huge for the team in her four games this season. She is averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, as well as swiping eight steals. She has played disciplined as well, picking up only three fouls in 81 minutes played.

Tip-off for Thursday's matchup at William Jessup is scheduled for 6:30pm MST, and Saturday's contest is set for 2:00 MST. Live video and stats for both games can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ottawaaz/.