The East Central University women's basketball team will return to the hardwood after a week off for finals and get right back on the road.  The Tigers will face Texas A&M Commerce, Tuesday, Dec. 16 (6 p.m.) on the road and then return home to host St. Gregory's, Saturday, Dec. 20 (1 p.m.).

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2012-13 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 18th 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 men's basketball schedule page. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast online or through the FREE KXFC App available in ITunes, Google Stores where apps are sold and www.kxfcradio.com.

Scouting Texas A&M Commerce
The Lions are 4-2 overall and have yet to face a Lone Star Conference opponent.  However they are 2-1 against teams from the Great American Conference, earning wins against Southern Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist and falling to Henderson State.  Before hosting the Tigers, TAMUC will face Texas State (Dec. 14).

The Lions' games have been close, with TAMUC holding a -2.9 scoring and a -2.6 rebounding margin for the season.  However, they are shooting a little better than the opposition at .372 to .364 overall.  But that advantage is lost behind the three-point line, where they are 25-of-97 and are allowing a .331 (44-of-133) mark.  The Lions are doing better in the second half, scoring 28 more points and allowing 34 less.

TAMUC has two players that are averaging double-digits in the point's column in La'Tisha Hearne and Princess Davis.  Hearned is netting 13.8 points and 9.2 rebound per game, while shooting .522 (24-of-46) from the field.  Davis adds 10.7 points, 3.3 boards and 3.7 assists per outing.

The Series
Tuesday's meeting will be the first since the 2010-11 season when the teams were LSC foes and the 19th in the all-time series.  ECU currently holds an 11-7 lead in the series, including a 6-4 mark when playing on the road.

Scouting St. Gregory's
The Cavaliers are 1-9 overall and 0-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference, after falling to the College of the Ozarks Dec. 11 in their last outing.  SGU has a -12.1 scoring margin on the year and is shooting just .336 for the year and allowing a .429 mark.  However, the Cavaliers do have a lead in three-point shooting at .310 (93-of-119) to .289 (147-of-204).

SGU has three players in double-figures in the point's column, with Stacy Lee and Denisha Lundy each tallying 14.3 points per game.  The duo account for 46 percent of the shots taken from the floor and 49 percent of those beyond the arc.  Lee adds 2.6 boards per game, 27 assists and 16 steals, while Lundy contributes 5.3 rebound per outing and 29 assists.  Kalie Lucas is the other player to average over 10 points per game, at 10.1, with 4.9 rebounds per contest.
 
Against the Cavaliers
Last season, the Tigers went 2-0 against SGU, averaging a +22.5 scoring and +14.0 rebounding margin.  Senior Dilan Webster is the top returner for ECU, with 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.  Fellow senior Erin Walling added 10.0 points and 7.0 boards per game.

The Cavaliers leading scorer from the series, Tori Huff is now a member of the Tigers squad, as she averaged 8.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.  The top returner for SGU is Courtney Leach, who tallied 8.0 points and 3.5 boards per game.

The Series
Saturday's game will be the 11th in the all-time series, with the Tigers holding a 7-3 advantage.  ECU is also 3.2 when playing at home and has won the last four games.

Resetting the Record Books
Senior Dilan Webster may be the leading blocker for the Tigers, but she is also making a mark for herself in the scoring columns.  In the Dec. 6 game against Northwestern, Webster became the 13th player at ECU to earn 1,000 points, currently with 1,007.  She is also among five active players in the Great American Conference that have over 800 points and become the fifth player in GAC history to hit the milestone.

Fischer Player of the Week
Senior Taylor Fischer has earned the first honor of the season for the Tigers, being named the Great American Conference Player of the Week for Dec. 8.  Fischer pushed the Tigers to a 4-0 mark in the GAC as she averaged 17.5 points per game in victories against Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State last week. Against the Bulldogs, she scored 16 points with three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Against the Rangers, she scored 19 points and she made five 3-point field goals.

Two Sign for 2015-16
Head Coach Matt Cole announced the signing of his first two players to the 2015-16 roster in Lexi Smith and Tia Williams.

Smith has been a part of the Bethany High School varsity team for the last three seasons.  The 2013-14 All-Canadian Valley Conference selection averaged 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a junior.

Williams has helped Norman North to two-straight Oklahoma State Tournament appearances, two regional championships and an area championship.  The 2013-14 All-Mid State honorable mention pick averaged 10 points per game and added 63 assists, 20 steals and 46 rebounds as a junior.

Taylor Shaking it Up
Senior Taylor Fischer has moved into her starting role for ECU with strong numbers compared to a season ago.  In 2013-14, Fischer averaged 4.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game and so far in 2014-15 she is netting 13.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.  

Half and Half
The Tigers return have of a quartet that tallied double-digit point totals in 2013-14, with Alycea Price and Ashley Robison both graduating and Dilan Webster and Erin Walling returning for their senior seasons in 2014-15.  Webster netted 11.2 points per game and added 6.3 boards, while Walling garnered 11.1 points and 4.2 rebounds.

First Game/First Win
First-year head coach Matt Cole started out his head coaching career the best way a coach can, with a win in his first game when the Tigers defeated Rogers State 57-54 (Nov. 15, 2014).

Already Atop the Leader Board
Senior Dilan Webster has been a force to deal with on the blocks, as she became the ECU all-time leading blocker before her junior season (2013-14).  Webster tallied 30 more blocks a year ago and has 12 this season to more her own school record to 138 career blocks.

Starting Where We Left Off
ECU was picked to finish tied for fourth in the Great American Conference standings for the 2014-15 season in the annual Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.  The Tigers finished with 58 points in the poll, with Harding picked to repeat as champions with 99 points and nine first-place votes.  ECU finished the 2013-14 season second with an overall record of 19-9 and a 13-7 mark in league games.

Up Next
The Tigers will get 10 days off for the holidays before traveling to face Central Oklahoma, Dec. 31 (1 p.m.) and then Southern Nazarene Jan. 3 (1 p.m.).

Up Next at the Kerr Activities Center
The next game in Ada is set for Jan. 8 against Southern Arkansas (5:30 p.m.) and then again Jan. 10 vs. Ouachita Baptist (1 p.m.)