GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 13-9 (11-7 GAC)	NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS 10-12 (6-12 GAC)	SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA BULLDOGS 7-16 (7-11 GAC)
Thursday, February 16 | 5:30 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, February 18 | 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 is in the final stretch as the Golden Suns have secured a spot
in the Great American Conference Tournament and continue GAC play in third place with an 11-7 GAC record.

The last two-week stretch of conference games begins as Tech will host Northwestern and Southwestern Okla. in Tucker Coliseum this week. The game against the Rangers in Tucker Coliseum will be on Thursday night with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off, while the game against the Bulldogs is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday afternoon in Tucker.

This will be the second matchup of the season between the teams. Arkansas Tech won the first game of the year against NWOSU on the road in Alva 63-56. The Golden Suns also bested the Bulldogs in their first matchup of the season 79-72 on the road in Weatherford.

In the all-time series histories, this will be the 24th matchup against NWOSU and the 41st matchup against SWOSU. The Golden Suns are 20-3 against NWOSU and 23-17 against SWOSU all-time.
 

The Golden Suns continue Great American Conference play with a 13-9 overall record and one of the best conference records at 11-7. In the GAC standings, the Golden Suns are third. In the Golden Suns most recent stretch, they took down both Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State on the road. They also beat East Central at home in Tucker Coliseum and took down Oklahoma Baptist on the road in Shawnee.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 70.2 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 64.1 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 .408 (580-of-1422) and are limiting their opponents to a .354 mark (493-of-1392) to rank second in the GAC.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .249 (91-of-366) to rank 12th in the GAC, while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .317 (146-of-461) to rank eighth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .677 as a team (293-of-433) to rank 10th.

Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Jalei Oglesby leads the way at 20.1 ppg, which is the best scoring average in the Great American Conference. Kaley Shipman has also provided a big lift as the other double figure scorer for the Golden Suns at 12.6 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 341-117.

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.
 

Northwestern Oklahoma State enters Thursday's conference game with a 10-12 overall record and 6-12 GAC record.

So far this season, the Rangers have picked up conference wins against East Central, Southeastern, Arkansas-Monticello, Harding, Henderson State and Southwestern Oklahoma.

Statistically this season, the Rangers average 65.7 ppg on offense to rank sixth in the GAC and give up an average of 61.6 ppg to rank third in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, NWOSU shoots at a .416 clip overall (521-of-1252) to rank fourth and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .378 (454-of- 1200) to rank fifth.

From three-point range, the Rangers shoot at a .324 clip (112-of- 346) to rank fifth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .305 (162-of-531) from range to rank seventh. At the charity stripe, the Rangers shoot .772 (291-of-377) to rank second in the conference stat listings.

Individually, the Rangers have three players scoring in double figures and are led by Faith Simpson who is averaging 18.1 ppg (fourth in GAC) on a team-high .507 (146-of-288) field-goal percentage. Following Simpson is Camille Thomas and Carly Craig who are averaging 12.8 and 11.2 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.
 

Southwestern Oklahoma State enters Saturday's conference game against the Golden Suns with a 7-16 overall record and a 7-11 GAC record.

So far this season, the regning GAC champion Bulldogs have picked up conference wins against East Central, Arkansas- Monticello, Southern Arkansas, Oklahoma Baptist, Southeastern, Northwestern Oklahoma and Ouachita Baptist. Before taking on the Golden Suns on Saturday, the Bulldogs will play a game on Thursday at Harding.

Statistically this season, the Bulldogs average 65.4 ppg on offense to rank eighth in the GAC and give up an average of 71.9 ppg to rank 11th in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SWOSU shoots at a .372 clip overall (546-of-1469) to rank last and are allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .450 (617-of- 1370) to rank 11th.

From three-point range, the Bulldogs shoot at a .302 clip (192-of- 635) to rank ninth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .342 (150-of-438) from range to rank last. At the charity stripe, the Bulldogs shoot .701 (220-of-314) 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 15.1 ppg on a team-high .386 (127-of-329) field goal percentage average. Following Zinn for Southwestern Oklahoma is Morgan Smith who currently averages 13.3 ppg. Smith is second on the team in rebounds with a 3.9 rebound per game average and leads the Bulldogs in blocks with a 0.4 block per game average.

Closing out the list of double-figure scorers for SWOSU is Macy Gore who is currently averaging 10.1 ppg on the season. Gore leads the team in three-point percentage getting her shots from long range to fall at a .303 (46-of-152) 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 spent last season as an assistant coach for the Oral Roberts women's basketball team and is a successful womens high school basketball coach in the state of Oklahoma.