GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 0-0 (0-0 GAC)	ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH LIONS 1-1 (0-0 MIAA)
Wednesday, November 13 | 5:30 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

TIPPING OFF
The 2024-25 season is soon to tip-off for the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team, and they will do so on Wednesday night at home against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
 
The Golden Suns and Lions met for the first time last season as Tech played on the road at UAFS. The Golden Suns would win that initial game, 73-65.
 
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Golden Suns finished last season with a 14-13 record overall and an 11-11 mark in the Great American Conference to qualify as the No. 5-seed at the conference tournament. The Golden Suns would be knocked out of the tournament in the first round by No. 4-seed and eventual tournament champion, Henderson State, 82-62.
 
Last year, the Golden Suns averaged 68.1 ppg and ranked fifth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns ranked seventh in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 63.7 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns were fourth in the conference as they shot at an overall clip of .411 (672-of-1,634) and limited their opponents to a .357 mark (577-of-1,615) to rank second.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shot at a clip of .300 (124-of-413) to rank eighth in the GAC while their opponents made three-pointers at a mark of .309 (182-of-589) to rank eighth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shot .686 as a team (370-of-539) to rank 10th.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns had two players average double figures in scoring and were led by now former Golden Sun, Alex Hill and her 12.0 ppg. Hayleigh Wyrick is the leading scorer returning this season and averaged 8.3 ppg last season.
 
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 18th season as Tech. During his time at Tech, Wilbers has amassed a 356-134 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 LIONS
Arkansas-Fort Smith opened their 2024-25 season this past weekend by taking part in the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge held in Wichita, Kan. The Lions would play Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello in that opening weekend and came away 1-1 as they lost to SAU, 77-53, and beat UAM, 77-66.
 
Statistically though two games played, the Lions average 65.0 ppg and rank seventh in the MIAA. On the defensive end of the court, the Lions rank 11th in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 71.5 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Lions are 12th in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .346 (44-of-127) and are allowing their opponents a .460 mark (57-of-124) to rank 13th.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Lions shoot at a clip of .250 (10-of-40) to rank 12th in the MIAA while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .467 (14-of-30) to rank 14th. From the free throw line, the Lions shoot .711 as a team (32-of-45) to rank sixth.
 
Individually, the Lions have two players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Morgan Browning and her 11.0 ppg. Zyniah Thomas is not far off that mark and sits at 10.0 ppg average.
 
Sinetra Jones is the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 8.0 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Thomas leads the team and is averaging 3.5 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Lions are led in steals by Anna Trusty at 4.0 steals per game and in blocks by Jones at 2.0 blocks per game.
 
The Lions are coached by Ryan McAdams, who is in his fourth season at UAFS. In his time, McAdams has amassed a 29-55 overall record.