The Great American Conference season will open up at the Kerr Activities Center for the East Central University women's basketball team this weekend.  The Tigers will welcome Southern Arkansas, Thursday, Nov. 19 (5:30 p.m.) and Arkansas-Monticello, Saturday, Nov. 21 (1 p.m.).

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2015-16 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 19th 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. 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 2-0 on the year after earning a 76-74 win over Texas A&M-Commerce Tuesday night.  SAU has a +3.0 points and rebounding margin so far this season, while shooting .464 from the floor and .344 from beyond the arc.

The Muleriders have three players that are averaging double-digits in the point's column, with the next netting 6.5.  Rosa Bryant leads the group with 21.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.5 steals per game, while shooting .538.  Shana Holmes adds a .632 overall and .667 three-point shooting percentage, with 17.0 points per game.  Aleeya Harris is the final member of the trio, with 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game and shoots .471 from the field.

The Series
Thursday's meeting will be the 16th in the all-time series, with ECU holding a 10-5 advantage.  The Tigers are 6-3 when playing SAU as a conference opponent and have not been defeated at home (5-0).

Scouting Arkansas-Monticello
The Cotton Blossoms have not played a game yet in the 2015-16 season, but did have an exhibition game at Baylor (L, 39-104).  UAM will open their season Thursday at Southeastern before coming to Ada.  Last year the Cotton Blossoms finished with a 14-13 overall record, an 11-9 mark in the GAC and eliminated ECU from the GAC Championship Tournament in the opening round.

UAM returns four starters and seven players from the 2014-15 season, including three who averaged over 10 points per game.

Jordan Goforth leads the group with 17.7 points and 6.3 boards per game, while setting a GAC record with a .912 (114-of-125) free-throw percentage.  Nikki Mullen adds 11.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, while Nelsha Peterson contributed 10.8 points and 5.3 boards per game.

The Series
The Tigers and the Cotton Blossoms have meet 13 times before, with ECU holding an 8-5 lead in the all-time series.  That mark goes up to 7-1 when playing as GAC opponents and the Tigers are 3-1 when playing at home.

Rebuilding Season
After losing five seniors to graduation, the Tigers are in a rebuilding year and have been picked to finish 10th in the 2015-16 GAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Arkansas Tech was picked to finish first and Harding second.  Southwestern was third, Arkansas-Monticello fourth, Southeastern fifth, Henderson State sixth, Ouachita Baptist seventh, Northwestern eighth and Oklahoma Baptist ninth.  The two teams below ECU were Southern Arkansas (11th) and Southern Nazarene (12th).

Playing Against Strong Competition
While Saturday's game will be the first official game of the year, the Tigers played an exhibition game against Oklahoma State.  ECU fell 49-122, but the Cowgirls shot an unusually high 73.9 percent from the field and 84.6 from beyond the arc.

ECU was led by sophomore Alexa Adair who tallied 14 points, while junior Tori Huff added nine and junior Whitney Stotler eight.

Season Tickets Available
The ECU athletic department has announced that they will start selling season basketball tickets for the 2015-16 season.  The department will have both an individual pass and a family pass available for purchase.

The individual pass will allow the bearer into all 11 GAC double-headers and into all single men's and women's regular-season games during the 2015-16 season.  The cost is $60, with a $28 savings.

The family pass is for two adults and up to five children (18 & under) to have general admission seats, with a cost of $125 and a $51 savings.

All seating at the Kerr Activities Center is general admission.  Single game ticket prices are $8.  Children under 12, seniors over 65, ECU students, ECU Faculty & Staff (with valid ID) and those with military IDs receive free admission.

Up Next
The Tigers will wrap up a three-game home stand, Tuesday, Nov. 24 when they welcome Texas Woman's to the Kerr Activities Center for a 5:30 p.m. outing.