The East Central University women's basketball team will return to the friendly confines of the Kerr Activities Center for the first of four games, in the next six, at home after playing most of the first portion of the season on the road.  The Tigers will welcome, Southern Arkansas, Thursday, Jan. 8 for a 5:30 p.m. Great American Conference battle.

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 Southern Arkansas
The Muleriders are 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the GAC after dropping their last four games.  In the last three games in league action, SAU has kept things close and gone 1-2.  They defeated Ouachita Baptist by just two and lost to Arkansas Tech and Henderson State by six each.

The Muleriders are averaging 63.2 points per game, but allowing 68.7 for the season (-5.5) and also have a small 0.6 rebounding deficit.  However, they are struggling to hit shots, making just 39.2 percent of their overall attempts, 26.6 percent of their triples and 59.4 percent of their free throws.  Their opponents are hitting 41.8 percent overall, 36.2 percent from beyond the arc and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe.

SAU has two players that are averaging over 10 points per game, with Rosa Bryant leading the team with 13.4 points and 5.3 boards per game.  Chanel Miller is second on the team with 11.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per outing.

Against the Muleriders
Last season, ECU went 2-1 against SAU with a win for each team on their home court and the Tigers earning a win at the GAC tournament.  ECU earned a clear advantage in the series with a +8.0 scoring and +10.7 rebounding margin.  Three point shots were key, with the Tigers making eight per game and allowing just three.

Senior Dilan Webster leads the returners for the Tigers, with 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while shooting .529 (18-of-34) from the field.  Fellow senior Erin Walling added 9.7 points and 4.7 boards per game.

Chanel Miller and Barvion Wyatt are the key returners for the Muleriders.  Miller averaged 14.7 points and 5.0 boards per game, while Wyatt contributed 14.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

The Series
Thursday's game will be the 13th in the all-time series against SAU, with ECU owning an 8-4 advantage after claiming victories in the last two games.

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 last six games as the first player off the bench she has increased her output to 11.4 points and 5.7 boards per game.

Tigers Leaving Their Mark
Along with having one of the best records in the NCAA at 9-2, the Tigers are ranked in the top-30 in five other categories and have two 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 10.0 turnovers per game.  The Tigers are also No. 2 in assist/turnover ratio (1.39), No. 14 in personal fouls (15.0), No. 9 in turnover margin (6.91) and No. 20 is scoring defense (57.3).

Senior Erin Walling is the top individual ranked No. 32 in ATR (2.12), while fellow senior Taylor Fischer is No. 37 in the same category (2.06).  

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 1,062.  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 11.3 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.

Up Next
The Tigers will remain at home to face Ouachita Baptist, Saturday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Kerr Activities Center.