GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 2-2 (0-0 GAC)	NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS 3-3 (0-0 GAC)
Thursday, December 5 | 5:30 p.m. Perceful Fieldhouse | Alva, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE VIDEO | ATU NOTES

TIPPING OFF
The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team opens up Great American Conference play on the road this weekend starting first with a game at Northwestern Oklahoma on Thursday night.
 
This will be the 27th meeting all-time between Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma. The Golden Suns hold a commanding 21-4 record in the series.
 
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside the Perceful Fieldhouse on the campus of Northwestern Oklahoma.
 

---

TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Golden Suns enter conference play 2-2 and are coming off a 75-55 loss on the road at nationally-ranked Pittsburg State.
 
This season, the Golden Suns average 72.8 ppg and rank sixth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank eighth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 67.5 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are seventh in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .411 (109-of-265) and are allowing their opponents to shoot at a .354 mark (96-of-271) to rank third.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shoot at a clip of .274 (20-of-73) to rank eighth in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .283 (26-of-92) to rank fifth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shoot .596 as a team (53-of-89) to rank 12th.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures and are led by Olivia Jones and her 12.5 ppg. Hayleigh Wyrick is next and rounds out double-figure scoring with 11.8 ppg. Four other players are averaging over 7.0 ppg as well.
 
Julie Wagner leads the team in rebounds with 6.5 rpg. In terms of assists, Kamryn Sutterfield leads the team with 2.0 apg.
 
Defensively, the Golden Suns are led in steals by Wyrick at 1.3 spg and in blocks by Wagner and Shelly Butler at 1.0 bpg.
 
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 358-136 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.
 

---

SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Northwestern Oklahoma is 3-3 heading into conference play. They are coming off a win their last time out as they beat Friends University 73-42 this past Saturday.
 
Statistically, the Rangers average 79.0 ppg and rank first in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Rangers rank 10th in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 67.8 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Rangers are sixth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .416 (171-of-411) and are allowing their opponents a .399 mark (131-of-328) to rank eighth.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Rangers shoot at a clip of .362 (38-of-105) to rank third in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .379 (53-of-140) to rank 11th. From the free throw line, the Rangers shoot .746 as a team (94-of-126) to rank sixth.
 
Individually, the Rangers have four players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Payton Jones and her 15.5 ppg. Kennedy Hight is next at 12.8 ppg while Kira Bass and Carly Craig round out double-figure scoring at 10.0 ppg each. Camille Thomas is not far off the double-figure mark and sits at a 9.0 ppg average.
 
Thomas is also the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Hight leads the team and is averaging 4.5 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Rangers are led in steals by Thomas at 2.3 steals per game and in blocks by Bass at 0.7 blocks per game.
 
The Rangers are coached by Tasha Diesselhorst, who is in her ninth season at Northwestern Oklahoma. In her time at NWOSU, Diesselhorst is 107-120.