GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 8-6 (5-5 GAC)	#14/#14 HARDING BISONS 14-2 (9-1 GAC)
Thursday, January 25 | 5:30 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | GAME NOTES

TIPPING OFF
The tough stretch of games for the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team continues Thursday as the Golden Suns will play their third nationally-ranked opponent in their last four games, but will do at home against No. 14-ranked Harding.
 
This will be the 84th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Harding in a series that dates back to the 1983-84 season. Overall, Tech holds a 63-20 lead in the series. Since the two became conference foes within the GAC prior to the 2011-12 season, the Golden Suns are 14-18 against Harding.
 
As conference foes, the two teams met twice last season in the regular season with the series being swept by Harding. The Bisons won the initial meeting, 72-52, on their home court and then outlasted Tech in overtime on the road, 68-64.
 
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 8-6 overall on the season and are 5-5 in the GAC. The Golden Suns are coming off a 55-48 loss at home against Southwestern Oklahoma this past Saturday.
 
At this point of the season, the Golden Suns average 69.9 ppg and rank fifth 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 62.7 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 .426 (357-of-838) and are limiting their opponents to a .347 mark (290-of-836) to rank first.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shoot at a clip of .299 (63-of-211) to rank ninth in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .303 (98-of-323) to rank sixth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shoot .680 as a team (202-of-297) to rank 10th.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures and three more that are at least at 7.0 ppg. Alex Hill currently leads the team in scoring at 12.7 ppg. Behind Hill in scoring and rounding out double-figure scoring is Dana Thompson at 10.3 ppg. Maisa Marcal, Hayleigh Wyrick, and Julie Wagner are all averaging at least 7.0 ppg at 9.0, 8.5 and 7.1 ppg, respectively.
 
Thompson leads the team in rebounding and is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Hill lead the team and are averaging 2.9 assists per game each.
 
Defensively, the Golden Suns are led in steals by Hill at 2.1 steals per game and in blocks by Thompson at 1.2 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 350-127 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 BISONS
Harding is 14-2 overall this season and are 9-1 in the GAC thus far. The Bisons have won three-straight game and are nationally-ranked in both the WBCA and D2CSC polls. In each poll, Harding is ranked No. 14. Their lone conference loss thus far came on the road at No. 6 Southern Nazarene.
 
Statistically, the Bisons average 72.2 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Bisons rank third in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 59.8 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Bisons are fourth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .418 (404-of-966) and limit their opponents to a .372 mark (352-of-945) to rank fourth.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Bisons shoot at a clip of .341 (93-of-273) to rank third in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .277 (73-of-264) to rank fourth. From the free throw line, the Bisons shoot .754 as a team (254-of-337) to rank third.
 
Individually, the Bisons have three players averaging double figures in scoring and are one with at least 9.0 ppg. They are led by Sage Hawley and her 15.6 ppg. Josie Williams is next at 10.8 ppg and followed closely by Aubrey Isbell at 10.4. Rory Greer is just off the double-digit pace at 9.4 ppg.
 
Hawley is the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 10.8 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Hawley leads the team and is averaging 2.5 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Bisons are led in steals by Isbell at 1.1 steals per game and in blocks by Hawley at 1.6 blocks per game.
 
The Bisons are coached by Tim Kirby, who is in his 19th season at Harding as head coach. His record with the Bisons is 364-172.