GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 7-5 (4-4 GAC)	#10/#16 NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS 15-1 (7-1 GAC)
Thursday, January 18 | 5:30 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | GAME NOTES

TIPPING OFF
The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team is set to face its second-straight nationally-ranked opponent on Thursday night as consensus top-20-ranked Northwestern Oklahoma makes its way to Russellville for the first of two regular season games between Tech and NWOSU.
 
This will be the 25th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma in a series that dates back to the 1992-93 season. Overall, Tech holds a 20-4 lead in the series. Since the two became conference foes within the GAC prior to the 2012-13 season, the Golden Suns are 16-5 against NWOSU.
 
As conference foes, the two teams met twice last season in the regular season with the series being split. Neither team won on their home court with Tech winning the initial meeting at NWOSU, 63-56, and NWOSU winning at Tech later in the year, 80-68.
 
Tip-off for Thursday evening's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Golden Suns are 7-5 overall on the season and are 4-4 in the GAC. The Golden Suns are coming off a near upset win on the road at No. 6/2 Southern Nazarene this past Saturday. In that game, the Golden Suns led the entirety of the first half and were narrowly overcome late in the fourth quarter.
 
At this point of the season, the Golden Suns average 72.3 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank ninth 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 third in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .430 (321-of-746) and are limiting their opponents to a .351 mark (252-of-717) to rank third.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shoot at a clip of .296 (53-of-179) to rank ninth in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .305 (86-of-282) to rank seventh. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shoot .672 as a team (172-of-256) to rank 11th.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns have three players averaging double figures and three more that are at least at 7.0 ppg. Pacious McDaniel currently leads the team in scoring at 21.8 ppg. Behind McDaniel in scoring is Alex Hill at 13.2 ppg. Dana Thompson is next and rounds out double-figure scoring at 10.1 ppg. Hayleigh Wyrick, Maisa Marcal, and Julie Wagner are all averaging at least 7.0 ppg at 9.3, 9.0 and 7.6 ppg, respectively.
 
Thompson leads the team in rebounding and is averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Hill lead the team and are averaging 2.8 assists per game each.
 
Defensively, the Golden Suns are led in steals by Hill at 2.0 steals per game and in blocks by Thompson at 1.1 blocks per game.
 
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 17th season as Tech. During his time at Tech, Wilbers has amassed a 349-126 overall record. Nine times, Wilbers has won 20 or more games at Tech and twice has won 30 or more. In terms of national rankings, a Wilbers-led team has been nationally-ranked at any point in a season 10 times. Among those, he has guided the Golden Suns to the top of the rankings on a pair of occasions during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
 

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SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Northwestern Oklahoma is 15-1 overall this season and are 7-1 in the GAC thus far. Winners of seven-straight games, the Rangers are a consensus top 20-ranked team with a No. 10 ranking by the WBCA and a No. 16 ranking from the D2CSC.
 
Statistically, the Rangers average 81.3 ppg and rank first in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Rangers rank second in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 55.3 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Rangers are first in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .469 (479-of-1,021) and limit their opponents to a .342 mark (305-of-893) to rank first.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Rangers shoot at a clip of .359 (98-of-273) to rank second in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .303 (123-of-406) to rank sixth. From the free throw line, the Rangers shoot .742 as a team (244-of-329) to rank third.
 
Individually, the Rangers have three players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Faith Simpson and her 20.0 ppg. Carly Craig is next at 14.5 ppg. Camille Thomas rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.1 ppg.
 
Simpson is the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Craig leads the team and is averaging 4.4 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Rangers are led in steals by Craig at 2.4 steals per game and in blocks by Simpson at 1.1 blocks per game.
 
The Rangers are coached by Tasha Diesselhorst, who is in her eighth season at Northwestern Oklahoma as head coach. Her record at Northwestern Oklahoma is 95-111.