The East Central University women's basketball team will continue its tough road trip against two-straight nationally ranked teams when it stops in Russellville, Ark., to face Arkansas Tech, Saturday, Jan. 17 at 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 Arkansas Tech
The Golden Suns are ranked No. 15 in the nation and are currently 13-1 overall and 8-0 in the Great American Conference after winning the last five games.  ATU is averaging a +20.3 scoring and +11.0 rebounding margin for the year and has a .476 to .379 advantage in overall shooting percentage.  The Golden Suns have allowed teams to come back in the second half, allowing 83 more points in the second 20 minutes of play and scoring just 17 more of their own.

ATU has three players that account for 55 percent of the scoring, 52 percent of the shots taken and 71 percent of the triples attempted.  Fatima Adams leads the group with 21.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and shooting .546 from the field.  Annisa Pounds is next on the scoring list with 12.9 points and 4.1 boards per game, while Katrina Hayden nets 12.1 points and 2.6 boards per game.

Against the Golden Suns
Last year the Tigers and ATU split the series, with each winning on their home court.  ECU claimed a 0.5 scoring and 4.0 rebounding margin in the game and out-shot the Golden Suns .412 to .394.

Seniors Dilan Webster and Erin Walling lead the returners in the series for the Tigers.  Webster averaged 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, while shooting .520 from the floor.  Walling added 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing and tallied eight assists.

Jacinda Myers-Sanders and Anna Lea Little are the top returners for ATU.  Myers-Sanders averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while Little added 8.0 points per outing.

The Series
With the win at home last season, the Tigers broke a three-game losing streak to the Golden Suns that allowed them to take a 6-8 lead in the all-time series.  ECU is currently 1-6 when playing ATU on the road, with the lone road win coming in the first meeting between the teams Nov. 29, 1986 (74-67).

Coming off the Bench
Most players get excited and do better when they move from an off the bench role to a starting spot, but the opposite has been true for senior Ashleigh Kelman-Poto.  She has created a great spark coming off the bench for the Tigers.  Kelman-Poto started the first five games of the season and was averaging 8.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, but in the games as the first player off the bench she has increased her output to 10.9 points and 5.6 boards per game.

Tigers Leaving Their Mark
Along with having one of the best records in the NCAA at 10-3, the Tigers are ranked in the top-30 in five other categories and have three players ranked in one category individually in the top-100.  ECU is making the most noise in the turnover column, as they are ranked No. 1 with just 10.2 turnovers per game.  The Tigers are also No. 5 in assist/turnover ratio (1.30), No. 14 in personal fouls (15.1), No. 12 in turnover margin (6.62) and No. 33 is scoring defense (58.8).

Senior Erin Walling is ranked No. 72 in ATR (1.70), while fellow senior Taylor Fischer is No. 49 in three-point field-goal percentage (42.0) and No. 95 in three-point field goals per game (2.23).  The final member in the top-100 is senior Dilan Webster at No. 62 in blocks per game (1.62) and No. 84 in field-goal percentage (49.4).  

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 1,097.  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 12.4 points and 3.2 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 26 this season to move her own school record to 152 career blocks.

Up Next in Kerr Activities Center
After just a week away, the Tigers will return home for two conference games.  ECU will host Southeastern, Thursday, Jan. 22 in the annual Blackout the Power of the Storm game at 5:30 p.m. and then Northwestern Jan. 24 at 1 p.m.