TIPPING OFF
Following the post-Thanksgiving road trip at the Angelo State Invitational the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns return home to Tucker Coliseum to open up conference play for the 2021-22 season.
The Golden Suns will get their first chance to begin GAC play strong this week with two games. First up among those opponents is Ouachita Baptist as they come into town to face the Golden Suns Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum. Following the game against the first conference opponent of the season, the Golden Suns will travel to Monticello, Ark. on Saturday to take on Arkansas- Monticello at 2 p.m.
With a 3-1 start to the year, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience bouncing back with a 13 point win over Angelo State after dropping a close game down the stretch to Texas Woman's. What's really impressive has been the balance of the scoring among the roster. In each of the four games, at least two separate Golden Suns have scored in double figures in the game.
Also, the Golden Suns displayed the ability to make adjustments and find another level of both offense and defense to pull away from their opponents. In their opener, the Golden Suns held just a three-point lead at halftime over Champion Christian and went on to win by 29 points. Against Angelo State, they were down by 8 at the half, but Tech went on to score 34 points in the third quarter to give them the edge and pull out the 76-63 victory.
TECH TIDBITS
Arkansas Tech enters this weekend with a 3-1 overall record. Their last two games proved to be an early season challenge as the Golden Suns had trouble shooting the ball, leading to a tough loss against Texas Woman's, but a 34 point third quarter led to a win in their next game over Angelo State on the road.
Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 78.2 ppg and rank fifth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank fourth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 63.2 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are sixth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .427 (119-of-279) and are limiting their opponents to a .386 mark (98-of-254) to rank sixth.
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .284 (23-of-81) to rank 11th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .273 (21-of-77) to rank third. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .732 as a team (52-of-71) to rank sixth.
Individually, the Golden Suns have four players average double figures in scoring. Ashlei Lopez leads the way at 20.3 ppg. Kaley Shipman is next at 15.3 ppg. Sydnee Wynn and Jayana Sanders are the other two in double figures scoring at 11.7 ppg and 10.5 ppg, respectively.
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 15th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 315-96.
Overall in his time at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing seven conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to nine NCAA Regional Tournaments.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Ouachita Baptist enters Thursday's conference game at 1-2 overall and are coming off of a loss their last time out against Rogers State. OBU had a tough time defending in the first half against RSU. The second half was a different story for the Tigers outscoring the Hillcats 39 to 32 but it wasn't enough to pull out the win. Prior to that game, OBU pulled off a big first win 92-54 over Champion Christian in Arkadelphia.
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Ouachita finished 4-5 overall and 3-4 in conference to finish fourth in the GAC East.
Statistically this season, the Tigers average 76.7 ppg on offense to rank eighth in the GAC and give up an average of 68.3 ppg to rank eighth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, OBU shoots at a .377 clip overall (81-of-215) to rank 11th and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .363 (70-of-193) to rank second.
From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .321 clip (27-of- 84) to rank sixth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .286 (14-of-49) from range to rank sixth. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .695 (41-of-59) to rank ninth in the GAC.
Individually, the Tigers have three players scoring in double figures and are led by Aspen Thorton with 21.3 ppg followed by Makayla Miller and Laney Mears both averaging 16.3 ppg, respectively. OBU has two others averaging at least 6.0 ppg in Lauren Wright with 7.0 ppg followed by Makenzie Schilmoeller at 6.0 ppg, respectively.
The Tigers are coached by Robert Dallimore, who is in his third season at Ouachita Baptist. In his time as a head coach at OBU, Dallimore has an 8-29 record and led the Tigers to a first round GAC Tournament win over SAU last season.
SCOUTING THE COTTON BLOSSOMS
Arkansas-Monticello enters this weekend's slate of action 0-6 overall and will have played a game against Henderson State prior to tipping off with the Golden Suns.
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Arkansas-Monticello finished 1-7 overall and played an exclusive Great American Conference schedule.
Statistically this season, the Cotton Blossoms average 63.0 ppg on offense to rank last (12) in the GAC and give up an average of 83.8 ppg, which is also last in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, UAM shoots at a .353 clip overall (106-of- 300) to rank last and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .427 (155-of-363) to rank 10th.
From three-point range, the Cotton Blossoms shoot at a .314 clip (32-of-102) to rank eighth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .289 (26-of-90) from range to rank seventh. At the charity stripe, the Cotton Blossoms shoot .724 (71-of-98) to rank seventh in the GAC.
Individually, the Cotton Blossoms have five players scoring in double figures and are led by Montse Gutierrez at 20.0 ppg. Behind Gutierrez in scoring is Taylor Flores at 18.8 ppg. Lovisa Hevinder follows with 11.0 ppg, with Liah Davis and Destini Whitehead at 10.0 ppg, respectively.
The Cotton Blossoms are coached by Markell Cox, who is in his first season at Arkansas-Monticello. Prior to his appointment at Arkansas-Monticello, Cox spent two seasons at Cincinnati Christian University.
