GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 5-3 (3-1 GAC)	SOUTHEASTERN SAVAGE STORM 3-6 (1-3 GAC)	EAST CENTRAL TIGERS 3-5 (0-4 GAC)
Thursday, January 5 | 5:30 p.m. Bloomer Sulivan Arena | Durant, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, January 7 | 1 p.m. Ker Activities Center | Ada, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO GAME NOTES

The conference portion of the 2022- 23 regular season schedule for the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team is underway as the Golden Suns have started Great American Conference Play with a solid 3-1 overall record.

The gauntlet of conference games continues this week as Tech will hit the road for a game against Southeastern in Durant, Okla. to open the week on Thursday night. Following that game, they will travel to Ada, Okla. on Saturday to take on East Central in a road contest.

Last season, the Golden Suns were swept by the Savage Storm in the regular season taking two tough losses both at home and on the road in Durant.

As for East Central, the Golden Suns swept the season series winning the first one in front of the home crowd at home in Tucker Coliseum, then again on the road in Ada against the Tigers.

In terms of all-time series histories, this will be the 26th matchup between Tech and Southeastern and the 30th matchup against East Central. Tech holds a 14-12 record over Southeastern and a 21-9 record over East Central in the all-time series.
 

The Golden Suns continue Great American Conference play with a solid 5-3 overall record and a near perfect 3-1 GAC record. They picked up their first two GAC wins of the season at home against Arkansas-Monticello, then on the road against Ouachita Baptist in overtime. Their next win came on a hard fought 89-87 win on the road against Southern Arkansas.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 76.1 ppg and rank third in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank seventh in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 67.6 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are second in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .437 (244-of-558) and are limiting their opponents to a .364 mark (192-of-528) to rank second in the GAC.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .280 (40-of-143) to rank 12th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .344 (75-of-218) to rank eleventh. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .579 as a team (81-of-140) to rank 12th.

Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Jalei Oglesby leads the way at 19.5 ppg, which is the third best scoring average in the GAC. Kaley Shipman is the other double figure scorer for the Golden Suns at 11.3 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 333-111.

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.
 

Southeastern enters Thursday's conference game with a 3-6 overall record and a 1-3 GAC record. They began their season
at the GAC/NSIC Classic where they dropped both games to Minot State, which was the only team they played at the event. Then, they won two of their next three nonconference games against Texas Women's and Oklahoma Christian, before opening GAC play with a 1-3 record with their win coming against Southwestern Oklahoma State and their losses against Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist and Northwestern Oklahoma State.

Statistically this season, the Savage Storm average 62.9 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and give up an average of 66.1 ppg to rank fifth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SE shoots at a .413 clip overall (180-of-436) to rank seventh and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .378 (179-of-473) to rank sixth.

From three-point range, the Savage Storm shoot at a .338 clip (54-of-160) to rank third in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .296 (45-of-152) from range to rank fifth. At the charity stripe, the Savage Storm shoot .730 (89-of-122) to rank fifth in the GAC.

Individually, the Savage Storm have two players scoring in double figures in Briley Moon who is averaging 17.3 ppg and Caitlyn Kobiske who is averaging 13.3 ppg.

The Savage Storm are coached by Darin Grover, who is in his 18th season at the helm of Southeastern's women's basketball program. He amassed a 235-185 record as the head coach of the Savage Storm in his first 15 full seasons.
 

East Central is off to a rocky start to their season with a 3-5 overall record and an 0-4 record in conference play. Before hosting the Golden Suns in Ada on Saturday, the Tigers will host Harding on Thursday night.

Statistically this season, the Tigers average 67.7 ppg on offense to rank seventh in the GAC and give up an average of 70.3 ppg to rank ninth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, East Central shoots at a .398 clip overall (160-of-403) to rank tenth in the conference and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .428 (170-of-397) to rank ninth.

From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .333 clip (61-of- 183) to rank tied for fourth overall in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .353 (49-of-139) from range to rank last. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .756 (93-of-123) to rank third in the GAC.

Individually, the Tigers boast three players scoring in double figures and are led by Mackenzie Crusoe who is scoring 15.1 ppg. Emily Wilson and Ashly Evans-Thompson are the other double figure scorers for the Tigers and are averaging 11.1 and 10.3 ppg, respectively.

The Tigers are coached by Heather Hurt (Robben), who is currently serving as the interim head coach for the program. Before serving as the interim head coach for the Tiger's women's basketball program, Hurt (Robben) was hired as the assistant coach for the Tigers in 2014 and was in that role for eight seasons.