GAME INFORMATION
(5) ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 14-12 (11-11 GAC)	HENDERSON STATE REDDIES 17-11 (13-9 GAC)
Friday, March 8 | 5:45 p.m. p.m. FireLake Arena | Shawnee, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | GAME NOTES

TIPPING OFF
The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team is set to open their conference tournament run on Friday night as the No. 5-seed and will take on No. 4-seed Henderson State.
 
This will be the 99^th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Henderson State in a series that dates back to 1977. Overall, Tech holds a commanding 76-22 lead in the series. Since the two became charter members of the GAC prior to the 2011-12 season, the Golden Suns are 20-11 against Henderson State.
 
This will be the third game between the Golden Suns and Reddies this season. Both teams won on their home court with Henderson winning 84-80 in Arkadelphia in early December and Tech winning 67-66 in Russellville in late February
 
Tip-off for Friday's opening round game is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. from FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
The Golden Suns ended the regular season 14-12 overall and 11-11 in the GAC to secure the No. 5-seed in the GAC Tournament. Tech is set to enter the tournament in search of the program's eighth tournament title and will do so riding a two-game winning streak.
 
Statistically, the Golden Suns average 68.3 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 63.0 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 .415 (651-of-1,570) and are limiting their opponents to a .353 mark (548-of-1,533) to rank second.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns shoot at a clip of .299 (119-of-398) to rank eighth in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .302 (170-of-562) to rank sixth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns shoot .695 as a team (355-of-511) to rank 10th.
 
Individually, the Golden Suns have two players averaging double figures and are led by Alex Hill and her 12.2 ppg. Behind Hill in scoring is Dana Thompson at 10.5 ppg. Just out of double-figure scoring is Maisa Marcal at 9.2 ppg.
 
Thompson leads the team in rebounding and is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Marcal lead the team and is averaging 4.2 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Golden Suns are led in steals by Marcal at 2.8 steals per game and in blocks by Julie Wagner 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 356-133 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 REDDIES
Henderson State ended the regular season 17-11 overall and 13-9 in the GAC, placing them as the No. 4-seed. The Reddies enter the tournament having lost their last two games with one of those coming against Tech a week ago.
 
Statistically, the Reddies average 72.6 ppg and rank second in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Reddies rank 12th in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 70.6 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Reddies are sixth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .401 (684-of-1704) and limit their opponents to a .402 mark (707-of-1,759) to rank ninth.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Reddies shoot at a clip of .350 (231-of-660) to rank first in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .323 (142-of-439) to rank 11th. From the free throw line, the Reddies shoot .779 as a team (433-of-556) to rank first.
 
Individually, the Reddies have three players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Ashley Farrar and her 15.7 ppg. Natalie Cardenas is next at 11.9 ppg while Tori Gittens rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.0 ppg.
 
Makenna Winans is the team-leader in rebounding and is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game. In terms of assists, Farrar leads the team and is averaging 1.8 assists per game.
 
Defensively, the Reddies are led in steals by Oliva Allen at 0.9 steals per game and in blocks by Winans at 1.0 blocks per game.
 
The Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her 11th season at Henderson State as head coach and her 15th overall. At Henderson, Thomas has a 164-136 record and carries an overall head coaching record of 229-184.