GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 1-0 (0-0 GAC)	MARYVILLE SAINTS 1-1 (0-0 GLVC)
Thursday, November 17 | 5:30 p.m. Moloney Arena | St. Louis, Mo. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE

TIPPING OFF
Coming off a strong 94-45 season opening win at home against Champion Christian, the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team looks to continue the early sucess as they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Maryville in a non-conference road game.  

Leading the Golden Suns on the sidelines once more is Dave Wilbers as he is set to embark on his 16th season as head coach. In his time as the head coach 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. Wilbers surpassed the 300-win milestone as a head coach in the 2020-21 season in a 63-60 win against Arkansas-Monticello. Wilbers was also named the GAC Coach of the Year during that same season.

The game against Maryville is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off tomorrow evening.

---

Tech Tidbits
The Golden Suns finished last season with a 16-13 record overall and 11-11 in the Great American Conference. The team made a deep run all the way to the finals in the Great American Conference Tournament after picking up wins over Southern Nazarene and Harding in the first two rounds, but ultimately fell to Southwestern Oklahoma State in the finals. 
 
Last year, the Golden Suns averaged 76.7 ppg and ranked fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns ranked ninth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 72.6 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns were first in the conference as they shot at an overall clip of .440 (1,113-of-2,528) and limited their opponents to a .390 mark (994-of-2,548) to rank second.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shot at a clip of .328 (210-of-641) to rank fifth in the GAC while their opponents made three-pointers at a mark of .339 (275-of-811) to rank last. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shot .746 as a team (555-of-744) to rank fourth.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns had four players average double figures in scoring. Then junior, now senior Kaley Shipman led the way at 15.6 ppg and looks to once again be one of the most prolific scorers in the conference. The rest of the list of double figure scorers was made up of former players Jayana Sanders, Ashlei Lopez and Tori Lasker. The Golden Suns will also see the return of another top scoring talent as Jalei Oglesby makes her return to the court following an injury last season. 

Leading the scoring effort for the Golden Suns in their season opener against Champion Christian was the pair of Oglesby and Shipman with 16 and 15 points, respectively. The leading pair also shot the ball well as Oglesby went 8-of-14 from the floor, while Shipman went 5-of-9 and 3-of-6 from long range. Duda also added some solid scoring putting up 11, while Edmondson scored 10 against the Tigers. On the boards, Oglesby pulled in a team-high seven, while Thompson and Edmondson each hauled in six rebounds. 

Oglesby also stayed active in the passing lanes picking up four steals on the night, while the pair of Wagner and Edmondson stayed active down low on defense with two blocked shots each. 
 
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 16th season at the helm of the program.
 
In his time at Tech, Wilbers has amassed a 328-108 record.

---

Scouting The Saints
Maryville ended last season with a 13-14 overall record and a 9-11 record in conference play.

So far this season, the Saints are 1-1 and lost their last game against #1 Grand Valley State 57-78.

Leading the Saints in scoring is Haidyn Pitsch at 16.5 points per game, while Antoinette Mussorici follows at a 16.0 scoring average. Taylor Kirby and Carsyn Fearday also average double figures in scoring at 11.0 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.

In terms of rebounds, Pitsch hauls in 7.5 per game, while Mussorici pulls down 6.0.
 
The Saints are coached by Brita Hand, who is in her first season as head coach at Maryville.