GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 9-6 (7-4 GAC)	SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE BULLDOGS 6-10 (6-5 GAC)	NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE RANGERS 7-8 (3-8 GAC)
Thursday, January 26 | 5:30 p.m. Pioneer Cellular Event Center | Weatherford, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, January 28 | 1 p.m. Percefull Fieldhouse | Alva, Okla. 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 is at the mid point of the season as the Golden Suns continue Great American Conference Play with a 7-4 GAC record and stay tied for third place among the conference standings.

The gauntlet of conference games continues this weekend as Tech makes the long journey to the far reaches of Oklahoma for a pair of road games against Southwestern and Northwestern Oklahoma State. The game against the Bulldogs will be on Thursday night in Weatherford, Okla. at Pioneer Cellular Event Center and is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The game against the Rangers will be a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday afternoon in Alva, Okla. at Percefull Fieldhouse.

This will be the first matchup of the 2022-23 season against the Bulldogs and Rangers for the Golden Suns. The Golden Suns were swept in the season series last year against Southwestern Oklahoma dropping both matchups at home and on the road in Oklahoma. Last season against Northwestern Oklahoma, Tech split the season series with the Rangers as the home team won each game.

In the all-time series histories, this will be the 40th matchup against Southwestern Oklahoma and the 23rd matchup against Northwestern Oklahoma. The Golden Suns are 22-17 against the Bulldogs and 19-3 against the Rangers in the all-time series.
 

The Golden Suns continue Great American Conference play with a 9-6 overall record and one of the best conference records at 7-4. In the GAC standings, the Golden Suns are tied for third. In the Golden Suns most recent win, they dismantled a Ouachita Baptist team 64-62 in Tucker Coliseum for a statement win. The Golden Suns were down by as many as ten points in the fourth quarter of the game, but fought all the way back to take the lead. The play that sealed the game was a clutch steal on defense by Alex Hill with ten seconds left to close out the game with a win on the comeback.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 71.7 ppg and rank third 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 64.4 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are sixth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .412 (411-of-998) and are limiting their opponents to a .358 mark (340-of-951) to rank first in the GAC.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .260 (70-of-269) to rank 12th in the GAC, while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .324 (109-of- 336) to rank eighth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .661 as a team (183-of-277) to rank tenth.

Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Jalei Oglesby leads the way at 18.7 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 .522 (118-of-226), 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 (2nd). Kaley Shipman has also provided a lift as the other double figure scorer for the Golden Suns at 12.2 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 337-114.

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.
 

Southwestern Oklahoma State enters Thursday's conference game against the Golden Suns with a 6-10 overall record and a 6-5 GAC record. They are currently riding a three-game win streak and have won four of their last six games.

So far this season, the reigning GAC Champions have picked up conference wins against East Central, Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Arkansas, Oklahoma Baptist, Southeastern and Northwestern Oklahoma.

Statistically this season, the Bulldogs average 67.9 ppg on offense to rank sixth in the GAC and give up an average of 72.1 ppg to rank 11th in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SWOSU shoots at a .393 clip overall (405-of-1031) to rank ninth and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .451 (430-of- 953) to rank 11th.

From three-point range, the Bulldogs shoot at a .307 clip (134-of- 437) to rank tenth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .349 (107-of-307) from range to rank 11th. At the charity stripe, the Bulldogs shoot .706 (142-of-201) to rank sixth in the GAC.

Individually, the Bulldogs have three players scoring in double figures and are led by Averi Zinn who is averaging 15.6 ppg on a team-high .409 (92-of-225) field goal percentage average. Following Zinn for Southwestern Oklahoma is Morgan Smith who currently averages 13.6 ppg. Smith is second on the team in rebounds with a 4.1 rebound per game average and leads the Bulldogs in blocks with a 0.5 block per game average.

Closing out the list of double-figure scorers for SWOSU is Macy Gore who is currently averaging 10.4 ppg on the season. Gore leads the team in three-point percentage getting her shots from long range to fall at a .310 (31-of-100) mark.

The Bulldogs are coached by Jeff Zinn, who is in his first season at the helm of Southwestern Oklahoma's program. Prior to his time with the Bulldogs, Zinn was as an assistant coach for the Oral Roberts women's basketball team during the 2021-22 season and is a successful womens high school basketball coach in the state of Oklahoma.
 

Northwestern Oklahoma State enters Saturday's conference game with a 7-8 overall record and 3-8 GAC record.

So far this season, the Rangers have picked up conference wins against East Central, Southeastern and Arkansas-Monticello. Prior to playing the Golden Suns on Saturday, the Rangers will host Harding on Thursday night.

Statistically this season, the Rangers average 66.1 ppg on offense to rank ninth in the GAC and give up an average of 60.1 ppg to rank third in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, NWOSU shoots at a .410 clip overall (358-of-873) to rank seventh and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .369 (299-of-811) to rank third.

From three-point range, the Rangers shoot at a .319 clip (82-of- 257) to rank fifth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .296 (107-of-361) from range to rank fifth. At the charity stripe, the Rangers shoot .788 (193-of-245) to rank second in the GAC.

Individually, the Rangers have three players scoring in double figures and are led by Faith Simpson who is averaging 17.5 ppg (fourth in GAC) on a team-high .495 (92-of-186) field-goal percentage. Following Simpson is Camille Thomas and Carly Craig who are averaging 11.9 and 10.7 ppg, respectively.

The Rangers are coached by Tasha Diesselhorst, who is in her seventh season at the helm of the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball program.