GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 15-12 (11-11 GAC)	HARDING BISONS 19-9 (14-8 GAC)
Saturday, March 5 | 8:00 p.m. FireLake Arena | Shawnee, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES

Coming off a big 67-65 win in the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Tournament against No. 2 seed Southern Nazarene, the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team looks ahead to their semifinal matchup against Harding.

The Golden Suns will play their semifinal matchup of the Great American Conference Tournament today at 8:00 p.m. against the No. 3 seed Harding. If they win, the Golden Suns will advance to the championship game against the winner of Southwestern Oklahoma State and Henderson State.

The Golden Suns lost their first game of the season against the Bisons on the road 77-85. In the second game, Tech managed to grab a solid double-digit win downing Harding 70-58 in Tucker Coliseum to split the season series.

Finishing 14-12 overall on the regular season, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience. Their 94-84 win against Southern Arkansas at home showed how elite the Golden Suns can be when scoring the ball.

Against East Central on the road, the Golden Suns found some hot shooting as the team hit 44.4% of their shots from long range to end the Tigers five game win streak.

The Golden Suns had their best performance of the season against Southern Nazarene on the road where they controlled the entire game and won 80-52. Three members of the Golden Suns hit double figures in scoring, all above 15 points or more. The team also shot a season high 60.0% (6-of-10) from three.

TECH TIDBITS

Arkansas Tech enters the semifinal round of the GAC Tournament with a 15-12 overall record and an even 11-11 record among conference opponents. Their quarterfinal matchup against Southern Nazarene ended in a thriller as freshman Alex Hill hit a game winning layup with .06 seconds left to lift the Golden Suns past the Crimson Storm 67-65 and advance to the semifinals.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 73.4 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank ninth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 71.3 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 .424 (719-of-1697) and are limiting their opponents to a .399 mark (676-of-1696) to rank tenth.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .323 (150-of-464) to rank seventh in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .333 (176-of- 529) to rank eleventh. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .742 as a team (394-of-531) to rank third.

Individually, the Golden Suns have three players averaging double figures in scoring. Kaley Shipman leads the way at 16.0 ppg. Jayana Sanders is next at 13.8 ppg. Rounding out the list of the double figure scorers for Arkansas Tech is Tori Lasker who is averaging 10.1 ppg .

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 327-107.

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 BISONS

Harding enters Saturday's semifinal game with a 19-9 overall record with a 14-8 record in conference play and are coming off a 67-50 win over the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State in their quarterfinal matchup in the GAC Tournament.

In their first game against the Golden Suns this season, the Bisons took an 85-77 win on their own home floor. The Bisons dropped the second game of the season to the Golden Suns 58- 70 in Tucker Coliseum to split the regular season series 1-1.

Statistically this season, the Bisons average 72.8 ppg on offense to rank sixth in the GAC and give up an average of 68.0 ppg to rank seventh in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, HU shoots at a .412 clip overall (730-of-1770) to rank sixth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .398 (689-of-1731) to rank ninth.

From three-point range, the Bisons shoot at a .310 clip (169-of- 546) to rank tenth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .308 (158-of-513) from range to rank fourth. At the charity stripe, the Bisons shoot .678 (412-of-608) to rank tenth in the GAC.

Individually, the Bisons have three players scoring in double figures and are led by 2021-22 All-GAC First Team member Sage Hawley who is averaging just short of a double-double at 15.5 ppg and 9.7 rpg. Hannah Collins is the next double figure scorer for HU at 14.3 ppg. Rounding out the double figure scorers for the Bisons is Jacie Evans who is averaging 10.6 ppg this season.

The Bisons are coached by Tim Kirby, who is in his 17th season at the helm of Harding's program. In his time as the Bisons head coach, Kirby has amassed a 323-162 overall record.