The East Central University women's basketball team is headed into one of the toughest home weeks in the Great American Conference schedule this weekend, with No. 24 Arkansas Tech and Harding (receiving votes) heading to the Kerr Activities Center.  Thursday, the Tigers will host Arkansas Tech at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Harding at 1 p.m.

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2014-15 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.

Pink Out
The Tigers will be hosting the annual PinkOut Game, Thursday, Feb. 19 to help promote breast cancer awareness.

Scouting Arkansas Tech
The Golden Suns are ranked No. 24 in the nation after compiling a 19-3 overall record and a 14-2 mark in the GAC and winning their last four games.  ATU has a +14.7 scoring and +7.8 rebounding margin for the year and is out-shooting its opponents .464 to .381.

The Golden Suns have two players that are averaging over 10 points per game, with Fatima Adams leading the charge with 21.4 points per outing.  Adams adds 9.6 boards per game and a .552 shooting percentage.  Anissa Pounds is the other player in double digits, with 12.9 points and 4.3 boards per game.

Against the Golden Suns
In the first meeting with ATU this season, the Tigers dropped a 72-84 decision to the Golden Suns in overtime.

Senior Ashleigh Kelman-Poto led ECU with 23 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Kendal Rogers added 10 points and four boards.

Fatima Adams garnered 26 points, 22 rebounds and four assists to lead the Golden Suns, while Fabiana Monte added 15 points.

The Series
The all-time series with ATU is currently knotted at six each after the loss earlier this season.  However, the Tigers are 5-0 when playing in the Kerr Activities Center.

Scouting Harding
The Bison are receiving votes in the latest polls after losing their last two games, but having a 17-5 overall record and a 13-3 mark in the GAC.  Harding has a +13.7 scoring and +8.4 rebounding margin this year, with a .447 to .363 lead in overall shooting percentage.

The Bison have to players that are averaging over 10 points per game, with Arielle Saunders leading the way with 15.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.  Montana Lewis adds 11.2 points and 5.9 boards per game.

Against the Bison
ECU and Harding battled earlier this season, with the Bison earning a 50-62 win on their home court.

Senior Janee Garza paced the Tigers with 15 points, including five triples.  Fellow senior Dilan Webster added 12 points, three rebounds and five blocks.  

Arielle Saunders and A'ndrea Haney led Harding.  Saunders garnered 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Haney added 12 points and six boards.

The Series
The Bison currently hold a 3-9 advantage in the all-time series after winning the last game.  The series is much closer in Ada, with a 3-3 mark.

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 9.7 points and 5.1 boards per game.

Rogers Making Noise
Freshman Kendal Rogers may have seen action in all 15 of the Tigers games this season, but she made the most of her minutes against No. 15 Arkansas Tech.  The Davis, Okla., native garnered a career-high 10 points, including six free throws and added four rebounds an assist and a block.

Tigers Leaving Their Mark
The Tigers are ranked in the top-30 in three 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. 2 with just 10.8 turnovers per game.  The Tigers are also No. 13 in assist/turnover ratio (1.18) and No. 24 in turnover margin (4.09).

Senior Erin Walling is ranked No. 41 in ATR (1.80), while fellow senior Dilan Webster is No. 85 in blocks per game (1.45) and No. 94 in field-goal percentage (47.8) and senior Taylor Fischer is No. 32 in three-point field goal percentage (40.7).  

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 11.4 points and 3.0 boards per game.

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 1,199.  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.

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 32 this season to move her own school record to 158 career blocks.

Up Next
The final weekend of GAC regular-season action will feature home and away games for the Tigers.  ECU will first travel to face arch rival Southeastern Oklahoma State, Thursday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in Durant, Okla.

Up Next at Kerr Activities Center
ECU will wrap up the regular season at home against Southern Nazarene in a rare night Saturday game.  The Tigers will face the Crimson Storm at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28 on the annual Senior Night.