GAME INFORMATION
|
|
|
|
ARKANSAS TECH
GOLDEN SUNS
10-10 (7-9 GAC) |
#6/#4 HARDING
LADY BISONS
20-2 (15-1 GAC) |
Thursday, February 15 | 5:30 p.m.
Rhodes-Reeves Fieldhouse | Searcy, Ark.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | GAME NOTES
|
TIPPING OFF
The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team will begin their lengthy stretch of road games to end the regular season this Thursday night at consensus top-10 ranked Harding. With six total games left in the regular season, the game at Harding will be the first of five road games for Tech down the stretch.
This will be the 85th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Harding in a series that dates back to the 1983-84 season. Overall, Tech holds a 63-21 lead in the series. Since the two became conference foes within the GAC prior to the 2011-12 season, the Golden Suns are 14-19 against Harding.
This will be the second game between the Golden Suns and Lady Bisons this season. The met in Russellville back on January 25. Harding won that initial meeting, 64-56.
Tip-off for Thursday evening's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Rhodes-Reeves Fieldhouse in Searcy.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Golden Suns are 10-10 overall on the season and are 7-9 in the GAC. The Golden Suns are coming off a dominant bounce back win at home against Oklahoma Baptist this past Saturday afternoon where the beat the Lady Bisons 87-54. It was the Golden Suns' second win this season of over 30 points.
At this point of the season, the Golden Suns average 68.7 ppg and rank fifth 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 62.1 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 .416 (497-of-1,195) and are limiting their opponents to a .348 mark (414-of-1,190) to rank second.
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shoot at a clip of .299 (91-of-304) to rank eighth in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .305 (135-of-442) to rank ninth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shoot .684 as a team (288-of-421) to rank 10th.
Individually, the Golden Suns have three players averaging double figures and are led by
Alex Hill and her 12.0 ppg. Behind
Hill in scoring and rounding out double-figure scoring are
Dana Thompson and
Maisa Marcal at 10.3 ppg, respectively.
Thompson leads the team in rebounding and is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game. In terms of assists,
Hill lead the team and are averaging 2.7 assists per game each.
Defensively, the Golden Suns are led in steals by
Hill at 1.9 steals per game and in blocks by
Julie Wagner 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 352-131 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 LADY BISONS
Harding is 20-2 overall this season and are 15-1 in the GAC. The Lady Bisons are coming off a convincing 77-57 win at home against at nationally-ranked and previously unbeaten Southern Nazarene this past Saturday. The win pulled the Lady Bisons into a tie for first-place in the Great American Conference standings and vaulted them into the top-10 of both the WBCA and D2CSC National Top-25 polls.
Statistically, the Lady Bisons average 70.7 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Lady Bisons rank third in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 57.8 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Lady Bisons are fourth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .415 (544-of-1,310) and limit their opponents to a .372 mark (467-of-1,257) to rank fourth.
From beyond-the-arc, the Lady Bisons shoot at a clip of .341 (121-of-355) to rank third in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .281 (101-of-360) to rank third. From the free throw line, the Lady Bisons shoot .760 as a team (346-of-455) to rank third.
Individually, the Lady Bisons have four players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by
Sage Hawley and her 15.9 ppg.
Josie Williams is next at 10.9 ppg.
Rory Greer and
Aubrey Isbell are next and round out double-figure scoring at 10.2 ppg, respectively.
Hawley is the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game. In terms of assists,
Williams leads the team and is averaging 2.5 assists per game.
Defensively, the Lady Bisons are led in steals by
Williams at 1.1 steals per game and in blocks by
Hawley at 1.5 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 370-172.
