After having over a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, the East Central University women's basketball team will return to action, Thursday, Dec. 5 with a game at Harding.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Tucker Coliseum.

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Lady Tigers basketball in 2013-14 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 17th season. Morrison, a 1987 ECU graduate, spent two seasons doing color prior to taking over the play-by-play duties during the 1997-98 season.

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video (if available) and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the women's basketball schedule page.

Scouting Harding
The Lady Bison have had a strong start to the 2013-13 season, going 6-0 and 1-0 in the Great American Conference.  Harding recently claimed a 96-67 win over No. 5 Central Missouri at home.  Thursday's game at Tucker Coliseum is just the third for Harding this season.

The Lady Bison have a +15.7 scoring and +9.0 rebounding margin over their opponents.  While they have a .442 to .391 overall shooting advantage, they have a clear lead in three-point shooting at .373 (47-of-126) to .289 (35-of-121).

Harding has three players that are averaging over 10 points per game.  The trio accounts for 58 percent of the team's points, 56 percent of the overall shots taken and 58 percent of the triples attempted.

Kristen Celsor leads the team with 19.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.  She is shooting .489 from the field and .409 from three-point range.  Shana Holmes is next on the list with 12.3 points and 3.7 boards per game, while shooting .439 from the field and .361 from three.  Montana Lewis is the final member with double-digit point totals at 11.8 points and 6.2 boards per game.  She is shooting .491 overall and .400 from beyond the arc.

Against the Lady Bison
Last year both teams earned double-digit wins on their home courts, making the season box look close in most categories.  The Lady Tigers capitalized on free throws in the series, making 28-of-38 attempts, while Harding went 15-of-31 from the charity stripe.

Junior Dilan Webster and senior Alycea Price led the ECU returners in the series.  Webster tallied 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while shooting .579 from the field.  Price added 7.0 points, all from the free-throw line, and 6.0 boards per game.

Shana Holmes led the scoring for the Lady Bison, with 16 points per game.  Kristen Celsor added 12 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while Arielle Saunders contributed eight points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

The Series
The all-time series with Harding is currently knotted at five games each.  The series dates back to Jan. 24, 1998.

Winning Start
The Lady Tigers started 4-0, marking the third time ECU has started 4-0.  The last time was 1989-90.  The Lady Tigers have started a season 4-0 twice (1989-90/1987-88), 5-0 in 2001-02 and 7-0 twice (1995-96/1984-85).

Sharing The Rock
Like a year ago, the Lady Tigers are not afraid to share the spotlight.  All 10 players have scored this season, with four averaging double-digit point totals.  All 10 have also recorded at least one rebound and one assist.

Alex Assisting
Senior Alex Tucker had a strong all-around game against St. Gregory's (Nov. 12).  The McAlester, Okla., native tallied 11 points and then dished out eight passes and added four steals against the Cavaliers.  Tuckers also added 10 assists against Southwestern Christian.

Home Sweet Home
The Kerr Activities Center was very busy in November, with the Lady Tigers hosting the first five games of the season at home.  This marks the first time since 1984-85 that ECU has played five-straight home games to start a season.  That season, the Lady Tigers went 7-0 to start, while ECU is already 3-0 in 2013-14.

Lady Tigers Picked Fourth in the GAC
After finishing fifth in the Great American Conference standings in 2012-13, ECU has been picked to finish fourth in the 2013-14 GAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

The Lady Tigers earned 69 points in the poll.  ECU improved by 11 wins in 2012-13 in going 19-9. Second-Team All-GAC forward Dilan Webster averaged 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in league games last season. Ashley Robison and Alycea Price also averaged at least 7.0 rebounds per game in GAC games.

Up Next
The Lady Tigers four-game road trip will continue with a stop at Arkansas Tech, Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.  ECU will wrap up the road trip at Midwestern State, Dec. 14.