GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 2-2 (0-0 GAC)	ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO COTTON BLOSSOMS 2-3 (0-0 GAC)	OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS 2-1 (0-0 GAC)
Thursday, December 1 | 5:30 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, December 3 | 1 p.m. Bill Vining Arena | Arkadelphia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO

The non-conference portion of the 2022-23 regular season schedule for the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team is wrapped up as the Golden Suns now look ahead to the Great American Conference slate in which they will play 22 total games.

The gauntlet of conference games gets under way this weekend as Tech will host Arkansas-Monticello at home to open on Thursday night. Following that game, they will travel to Arkadelphia on Saturday to take on Ouachita Baptist.

Last season, the Golden Suns swept the Cotton Blossoms in the regular season taking the win both at home and on the road in Monticello. As for Ouachita, the Golden Suns split the season series winning the first one at home in Tucker Coliseum, but falling on the road in Arkadelphia to the Tigers.

In terms of all-time series histories, this will be the 102nd matchup between Tech and Arkansas- Monticello and the 87th matchup against Ouachita Baptist. Tech holds a 77-25 record over Arkansas- Monticello and a 71-16 record over Ouachita Baptist in the all-time series.
 

The Golden Suns enter Great American Conference play with an even 2-2 record. They picked up two wins at home against Champion Christian and Lane College, but lost at home to Christian Brothers and on the road to Maryville.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 74.5 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns also rank fourth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 59.0 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are fourth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .426 (120-of-282) and are limiting their opponents to a .323 mark (80-of-248) to rank second.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .300 (21-of-70) to rank ninth in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .253 (21-of-83) to rank fourth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .514 as a team (37-of-72) to rank last.

Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Jalei Oglesby leads the way at 16.5 ppg, which is the fifth best scoring average in the GAC. Kaley Shipman is the other double figure scorer for the Golden Suns at 12.0 ppg.

The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 16th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 330-110.

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.

 

Arkansas-Monticello enters Thursday's conference game with a 2-3 overall record. They began their season at the Upper Iowa Tournament where they dropped both games to Lincoln University of Missouri and Upper Iowa University. Then, they won two straight games at home against Delta State and Arkansas Baptist College and enter Thursday's matchup against Tech following a road loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Statistically this season, the Cotton Blossoms average 60.2 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and give up an average of 64.2 ppg to rank behind Tech at fifth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, UAM shoots at a .393 clip overall (114-of-290) to rank ninth and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .422 (114-of-270) to rank ninth.

From three-point range, the Cotton Blossoms shoot at a .254 clip (16-of-63) to rank last in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .328 (22-of-67) from range to rank tenth. At the charity stripe, the Cotton Blossoms shoot .722 (57-of-79) to rank seventh in the GAC.

Individually, the Cotton Blossoms have just one player scoring in double figures in Bailey Harris who is averaging 15.2 ppg. UAM has two other players who score at least 8.4 ppg.

The Cotton Blossoms are coached by David Midlick, who is in his first season at the helm of Arkansas-Monticello's women's basketball program. Prior to running the program at UAM, Midlick spent two seasons as the head coach for Delta State and six seasons at the helm of Austin Peay. Midlick has amassed a 132- 107 career record.

 

Ouachita Baptist is off to a solid start to their season with a 2-1 overall record and picked up a win in their last game against Mississippi College on the road. Before hosting the Golden Suns in Arkadelphia on Saturday, the Tigers will travel to Searcy to face Harding on Thursday evening.

Statistically this season, the Tigers average 80.67 ppg on offense to rank one spot above Tech at third in the GAC and give up an average of 65.3 ppg to rank seventh in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, Ouachita Baptist shoots at a .546 clip overall (95-of-174) to rank first in the conference and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .440 (74-of-168) to rank 11th.

From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .440 clip (22- of-50) to rank first in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .375 (18-of-48) from range to rank last. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .600 (30-of-50) to rank 11th in the GAC.

Individually, the Tigers boast four players scoring in double figures and are led by Makayla Miller and Madeleine Tipton who are both averaging 16.3 ppg. Laney Mears and Kayla Richardson are the other two double figure scoring averages for the Tigers and score an average of 12.3 and 10.0 points, respectively.

The Tigers are coached by Robert Dallimore, who is entering his fourth season at the helm of Ouachita Baptist's women's basketball program. In his first three seasons as the head coach for the Tigers, Dallimore has coached five All-Great American Conference selections and one all-region honoree to go along with 16 combined academic all-conference selections. Prior to his time at Ouachita, he spent 10 years as the associate head coach at UALR.