SURPRISE, ARIZONA - The OUAZ women's basketball team (5-14 overall; 1-10 GSAC) hits the West Coast looking to regain its winning form by playing Hope International (Jan. 26 @ 6:30 pm MST) and San Diego Christian (Jan. 29 @ 1 pm MST). After starting the year 5-5, the battle-worn Spirit have dropped nine straight.
 
OUAZ is led by freshman guard Tiana Sledge who ranks 14^th in the conference in scoring (12.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (9.9 rpg).
 
Last Meetings
As the calendar turned to December, the Spirit beat San Diego Christian inside Faith Arena 78-72 in overtime. Leading by 24 with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter, the OUAZ women's basketball team survived a comeback. The visitors took their first lead of the game with 29 seconds to play in regulation on a three from Mamaeia Makoni. Cierra Kiser would split a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds, forcing the game into overtime. The Spirit opened the extra period with an 8-2 run behind back-to-back buckets from Tatiana Gary to get it started. After SDCC scored four straight to get back within two, Marlee Johnson hit a jumper and then a pair of free throws to seal the win, which was the last the Spirit have had this season.
 
It was a different story two days later as a tough shooting day and a slow start led to the OUAZ women's basketball team falling to Hope International 62-46 in Surprise. OUAZ had just nine points in each of the first two quarters, and the Spirit shot 31.1 percent for the game in defeat.