GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 16-12 (11-11 GAC)	#16 SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE BULLDOGS 28-4 (20-2 GAC)
Sunday, March 6 | 3:30 p.m. FireLake Arena | Shawnee, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES

Coming off a big 68-65 win in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament against No. 3 seed Harding, the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team looks ahead to their clash with Southwestern Oklahoma in the GAC Tournament championship game.

The Golden Suns will play their finals matchup of the Great American Conference Tournament today at 3:30 p.m. against the No. 1 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State as they battle for the GAC Tournament crown. This is the fourth time the Bulldogs and Golden Suns have met in the championship game of the GAC Tournament. Tech won the first two meetings in 2013 and 2016, while Southwestern Oklahoma took the most recent game in 2019.

The Golden Suns have had a tough time against the Bulldogs this season losing the first game in brutal fashion at home 71-105. Tech kept the game close in the first half of the second game on the road at SWOSU, but the Bulldogs pulled away to win 90-59.

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 championship of the GAC Tournament with a 16-12 overall record and an even 11-11 record among conference opponents. Their semifinal matchup against Harding was another down to the wire thriller. The Golden Suns managed to keep control of their lead down the stretch and out duel the Bisons on the free throw line to pull off another fantastic win and take the semifinal game 68-65.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 73.2 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank eighth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 71.0 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 .424 (745-of-1759) and are limiting their opponents to a .399 mark (703-of-1763) to rank ninth.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .319 (151-of-473) to rank seventh in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .333 (180-of- 540) to rank tenth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .738 as a team (409-of-554) to rank fourth.

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 13.9 ppg. Rounding out the list of the double figure scorers for Arkansas Tech is Tori Lasker who is averageing 10.0 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 328-107.

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 BULLDOGS

Southwestern Oklahoma State enters Sunday's championship game with a 28-4 overall record and a 20-2 record in conference play and are coming off an 89-73 win over the Reddies of Henderson State in their semifinal matchup in the GAC Tournament. The Bulldogs finished the regular season as the top team in the Great American Conference and are currently ranked at No. 16 in the country.

In their first game against the Golden Suns this season, the Bulldogs took a 105-71 win on the road. The Bulldogs took the second game of the season over the Golden Suns 90-59 on their home floor to sweep the regular season series 2-0.

Statistically this season, the Bulldogs average 82.0 ppg on offense to rank first in the GAC and give up an average of 65.0 ppg to rank fourth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SWOSU shoots at a .430 clip overall (974-of-2265) to rank second and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .380 (768-of-2020) to rank second.

From three-point range, the Bulldogs shoot at a .344 clip (303-of-881) to rank second in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .311 (196-of-631) from range to rank fifth. At the charity stripe, the Bulldogs shoot .729 (374-of-513) to rank sixth in the GAC.

Individually, the Bulldogs have four players scoring in double figures and are led by 2021-22 GAC Player of the Year Makyra Tramble who is averaging 19.6 ppg. Lauren Ramey is the next double figure scorer for SWOSU at 13.1 ppg. Rounding out the double figure scorers for the Bulldogs is Macy and Karly Gore who are averaging 10.9 and 10.0 ppg, respectively.

The Bulldogs are coached by Kelsi Musick, who is in her 13th season at the helm of SWOSU's program. In her time as the Bulldogs coach, Musick has amassed a 237-134 overall record.