GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 8-4 (6-2 GAC)	ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO COTTON BLOSSOMS 6-8 (3-5 GAC)	OUACHITA BAPTIST TIGERS 6-6 (3-5 GAC)
Thursday, January 19 | 5:30 p.m. Steelman Field House | Monticello, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, January 21 | 1 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO GAME NOTES

The conference portion of the 2022-23 regular season slate for the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team approaches the mid point as the Golden Suns continue Great American Conference Play with a solid 6-2 GAC record and stand tied for second place.

The gauntlet of conference games continues this week as Tech prepares for a pair of GAC matchups. The team will head to Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. Then, the Golden Suns will host Ouachita Baptist at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Tucker.

Earlier this season, the Golden Suns defeated Arkansas- Monticello in Tucker Coliseum 75-63 for their first GAC win of the season.

As for Ouachita Baptist, the Golden Suns won an 80-77 thrilling overtime road matchup in their first game in the regular season series against the Tigers.

In terms of all-time series histories, this will be the 104th matchup between Tech and Arkansas- Monticello and the 89th matchup against Ouachita Baptist. Tech holds a 79-25 record over Arkansas- Monticello and a 73-16 record over Ouachita Baptist in the all-time series.
 

The Golden Suns continue Great American Conference play with a solid 8-4 overall record and one of the best conference records at 6-2. In the GAC standings, the Golden Suns are tied for second. In the Golden Suns most recent win, they dismantled a hot Oklahoma Baptist team 76-50 in Tucker Coliseum for a statement win. Prior to the matchup against Oklahoma Baptist, the Bison had been at the top of the conference standings.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 74.9 ppg and rank second in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank fifth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 63.8 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are third in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .430 (347-of-807) and are limiting their opponents to a .343 mark (266-of-776) to rank first in the GAC.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .279 (60-of-215) to rank 12th in the GAC, while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .309 (92-of-298) to rank sixth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .644 as a team (145-of-225) to rank 11th.

Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Jalei Oglesby leads the way at 18.4 ppg, which is the third best scoring average in the GAC. Oglesby has proven to be one of the most efficient scorers in the GAC this season hitting her shots from field goal range at a high clip of .545 (91-of-167), which is the second best mark in the conference. On top of her scoring, Oglesby also resides within the top ten in the conference in rebounds (6th), free throw percentage (9th) and offensive rebounds (3rd). Kaley Shipman has also provided a big lift as the other double figure scorer for the Golden Suns at 12.3 ppg. On the road against Southeastern, Shipman scored a season-high 20 points to power the Golden Suns to another conference win.

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 336-112.

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 6-8 overall record and 3-5 GAC record. The Golden Suns and Cotton Blossoms began their GAC slate of games for the season against each other and the Golden Suns came out on top 75-63 in Tucker Coliseum.

Since then, Arkansas-Monticello has picked up conference wins against Ouachita Baptist, Southeastern and East Central and will come into Thursday nights contest riding a two-game win streak.

Statistically this season, the Cotton Blossoms average 65.3 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and give up an average of 65.5 ppg to seventh in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, UAM shoots at a .413 clip overall (347-of-841) to rank sixth and are allowing opponents to shoot at the same mark they shoot at .413 (317-of-767) to rank eighth.

From three-point range, the Cotton Blossoms shoot at a .305 clip (72-of-236) to rank eighth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .281 (66-of-235) from range to rank fourth. At the charity stripe, the Cotton Blossoms shoot .679 (148-of- 218) to rank eighth in the GAC.

Individually, the Cotton Blossoms have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Bailey Harris who is averaging 15.5 ppg on a team-high .439 (76-of-173) field goal percentage average. The other double figure scorer for Arkansas-Monticello is Joi Montgomery who currently averages 11.0 ppg. Motgomery also leads the team in rebounding with a 6.3 per game average.

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 136- 111 career record.
 

Ouachita Baptist enters this weeks conference action with a 6-6 overall record and a 3-5 record in GAC action, while currently on a two-game win streak. Prior to facing the Golden Suns in Tucker on Saturday, the Tigers will host Harding in Arkadelphia on Thursday night.

The Golden Suns won the first matchup against the Tigers this season in a thrilling 80-77 overtime win on the road.

Since their overtime battle in Arkadelphia, the Tigers have picked up conference wins against Southern Arkansas, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State.

Statistically this season, the Tigers average 73.7 ppg on offense to rank one spot behind Tech at second in the GAC and give up an average of 69.8 ppg to rank ninth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, Ouachita Baptist shoots at a .459 clip overall (332-of-724) to rank first in the conference and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .417 (289-of-693) to rank ninth.

From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .360 clip (85-of- 236) to rank first in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .336 (82-of-244) from range to rank tenth. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .637 (135-of-212) to rank last in the GAC.

Individually, the Tigers boast three players scoring in double figures and are led by Makayla Miller's 14.4 ppg average. Miller also leads the team and is top three in the GAC in field-goal percentage, assists and steals. Laney Mears and Madeleine Tipton are the other double figure scorers averaging 13.1 and 12.9 ppg, respectively. Mears leads the GAC in three-point makes with 36 and is second in the GAC in three-point percentage hitting her outside shots at a .419 mark.

The Tigers are coached by Robert Dallimore, who is entering his fourth season at the helm of Ouachita Baptist's women's basketball program. Prior to his time at Ouachita, he spent 10 years as the associate head coach at UALR.