After time off for the holiday's, the East Central University women's basketball team will return to action, Wednesday, Dec. 31 in the final non-conference game of the 2014-15 season at Central Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m.  The Tigers will then get back into Great American Conference action when they travel to Bethany, Okla., to face Southern Nazarene, Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 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 Central Oklahoma
The Bronchos are 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA after picking up a win in their last outing (Dec. 20) over Missouri Western State.  UCO and ECU have two common opponents so far this season, with UCO and the Tigers both defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State and the Bronchos defeating Texas Woman's, which is ECU's lone loss of the year.

UCO has a +11.5 scoring and +4.0 rebounding margin on the season and has shown strong shooting through the year with a .443 mark overall and .410 average from beyond the arc.  The large scoring advantage has led to three players averaging over 10 points per game.  The trio accounts for 55% of the shots attempted, 64% of the triple taken, 55% of the points scored and 43% of the rebounds.  

Haley Weathers leads the team with 11.3 points and 2.6 boards per game, while adding 20 assists and steals.  Olivia Mason adds 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Kylie Mayes contributes 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest.

Against the Bronchos
The last meeting with UCO was during the 2010-11 season and no members of the Tigers playing in the game.  However, Kylie Mayes tallied 10 points and six rebounds for the Bronchos win.

The Series
The Bronchos have a 10-game winning streak going against the Tigers, as the teams both used to be members of the Lone Star Conference.  The streak has allowed UCO to gain a 26-20 lead in the all-time series.

Scouting Southern Nazarene
The Crimson Storm are 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the GAC after losing their last two games.  That includes a loss to Midwestern State, Dec. 20.  Despite the trailing mark in the win-loss column, SNU has a +0.9 scoring and +3.9 rebounding margin for the year.  The other key area for the Crimson Storm comes in the blocks column, where they average 7.5 per game and allow just 2.5.

SNU has to players in double digits in the scoring column, with the next players coming in with 6.8 points per game.  Aminata Fall is the key player to watch, with 21.4 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per outing.  Fall is also shooting .413 (83-of-201) from the field and .389 (14-of-36) from beyond the arc.  Abby Boyd is the other player with over 10 points per game, at 14.3, while adding 2.7 boards and 3.1 assists per game.

Against the Crimson Storm
Last year both teams earned a win on their home court, but in the two-game series the Tigers earned a +7.5 scoring and +4.0 rebounding margin.  Senior Dilan Webster leads the ECU returners with 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Aminata Fall and Abby Boyd are the key returners for SNU.  Fall tallied 13.0 point and 10.5 rebounds per game, while Boyd added 9.0 points per contest.

The Series
While the Crimson Storm and the Tigers traded the games last season, SNU had been on a 12-game winning streak before ECU broke it in the first meeting in 2013-14.  The streak pushed SNU ahead in the all-time series, 15-11.

Tigers Leaving Their Mark
Despite having one of the best records in the NCAA at 8-1, the Tigers are ranked in the top-30 in five other categories and have three players ranked in one category individually in the top-50.  ECU is making the most noise in the turnover column, as they are ranked No. 1 with just 9.4 turnovers per game.  The Tigers are also No. 3 in assist/turnover ratio (1.48), No. 8 in personal fouls (14.6), No. 11 in turnover margin (7.0) and No. 26 is scoring defense (57.9).

Senior Taylor Fischer is the top individual ranked No. 20 in ATR (2.55), while fellow senior Erin Walling is No. 39 in the same category (2.15).  Senior Dilan Webster is the final member in the top-50, at No. 46 in blocks (1.89).

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.

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 12.7 points and 3.3 boards per game.

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.

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 17 this season to move her own school record to 143 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 at the Kerr Activities Center
The Tigers will return home for a weekend of GAC action, Jan. 8-10.  ECU will battle Southern Arkansas, Thursday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. and Ouachita Baptist, Saturday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. in Ada.