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TIPPING OFFÂ
Like their 2014-15 season, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns are sitting at 8-0 on the season after defeating rival Harding, 67-56 in their last outing. Arkansas Tech will travel to Arkadelphia face Ouachita Baptist for the first time this season. Â
In their last outing the Golden Suns took down Harding for the second time this season. Unlike their first meeting, the Golden Suns jumped to an early 10-0 lead and never trailed in the 40 minutes of play in Tucker Coliseum. Arkansas Tech went 4-of-5 from behind the arc in the opening 10 minutes. Â
Two quick jumpers from Hannah Villines and Nikki Metcalfe put the Golden Suns up by nine in the first forty seconds of the second quarter. The Lady Bisons pulled within four, 23-19, but the Golden Suns used an 8-4 run to maintain a seven point lead with four minutes left in the half. Arkansas Tech entered halftime with a 35-29 lead. Â
The Lady Bisons pulled within four again, 35-31 in the first two minutes of the second half. Arkansas Tech stayed poised with a jumper from Trelynn Tyler maintained a nine point lead, 46-37 before a quick basket from Harding kept them within reach, 46-39 going into the final period. Â
The two teams traded points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before Ashlei Lopez went on a tear, scoring six points in about two minutes of play, putting the Golden Suns up 64-53 with 3:36 left in the game. Arkansas Tech grabbed another basket before the final horn, taking the game 67-56. Â
TECH TIDBITSÂ Â
The Golden Suns enter play against Ouachita Baptist with a 8-0 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the GAC. As a team, the Golden Suns are averaging 84.00 ppg and rank second in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns sport the second-best scoring defense in the league, giving up an average of 64.13 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage, the Golden Suns are the best in the conference as they are shooting at an overall clip of .483 (257-of-532), and limiting opponents to a .312 mark (178-of-571). Â
Individually, the Golden Suns have five players averaging double figures in scoring. Sophomore Kaley Shipman leads the way at 15.0 ppg. Behind her is newcomer Ashlei Lopez at 14.3 ppg. Lopez is followed by senior Jayana Sanders with 13.0 ppg and redshirt freshman Jalei Oglesby with 12.1. Junior newcomer Nikki Metcalfe rounds out double-figure scoring for the Golden Suns at 11.7 ppg. Â
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 14th season on the sidelines at Tech. A newly-minted member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 306-93. 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 six conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to eight NCAA Regional Tournaments.Â
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERSÂ
Ouachita enters their game against the Golden Suns 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the GAC. The Lady Tigers lost their only two matchups of the season, against Harding and Henderson State. Ouachita missed their first 11 scheduled matchups due to COVID-19 protocols. The Lady Tigers fell to Harding in their opening game, 66-63. In #RivalryNight Ouachita fell to Henderson State 71-61. Â
In their last outing, the Lady Tigers fell to Henderson State. The Reddies got off to a hot start, pouring in 26 points in the first quarter while holding the Lady Tigers to just nine points. The Reddies led the entire game only allowing the Lady Tigers to pull within seven on several occasions before taking the game 71-61.Â
The Lady Tigers have three players averaging double figures in their first two games. Makayla Miller leads with 18.0 ppg followed by Eden Crow and Lauren Wright with 13.0 ppg each. Â
The Lady Tigers are coached by Robert Dallimore, who is in his 2nd season at Ouachita. In his time as a head coach at Ouachita, he has amassed 4-24 record.Â
