Dave Wilbers and Tim Kirby have combined for 790 career wins as the head women’s basketball coaches at Arkansas Tech University and Harding University, respectively.
Their teams have combined to win the Great American Conference regular season championship outright or share the title eight times in the first 15 years of the league.
And so, it is fitting that first place in the GAC standings will be on the line when Wilbers and Kirby meet for a regular season game at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville for the final time.
Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. The men’s game between Arkansas Tech and Harding will follow at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.arkansastechsports.com/tickets.
“(Harding) is a good team and a really well-coached team,” said Wilbers, who announced in November that he will retire after this season following 19 years at Arkansas Tech. “We’ve had a lot of battles in the past, and I’m guessing this will be another battle…just like it always is…no matter where we play. Here, over there, in a tournament, in an NCAA Tournament…they’re always good games and it seems like we always draw good crowds, so it will be a fun basketball game on Thursday.”
The Golden Suns (12-2 overall, 8-2 GAC) have won six consecutive games and eight of their last nine. Arkansas Tech ranks No. 1 in the GAC and top 10 in NCAA Division II in scoring offense (83.6 points per game).
The Lady Bisons (14-2, 8-2) have won six consecutive games and seven of their last eight. Harding is tied for the lead in the GAC standings on the strength of a balanced offensive attack. Five Lady Bisons average double figures in scoring.
Thursday’s game will mark the first collegiate match-up between two of the most accomplished women’s basketball players to emerge from the Arkansas River Valley in recent years: ATU’s Logan Young and Harding’s Kori Sanders.
Sanders’ Lamar Lady Warriors got the best of Young’s Dover Lady Pirates 65-52 in the 2025 Class 3A state championship game. Sanders had 29 points and Young scored 24 points on that Friday night in Hot Springs.
As true freshmen, Young is averaging 17.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game for the Golden Suns while Sanders is averaging 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game for the Lady Bisons.
The second half of Thursday’s doubleheader will pit a resurgent Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys squad against a Harding Bisons team that is in the thick of the GAC men’s basketball championship chase.
The Wonder Boys (6-10 overall, 4-6 GAC) put their six-game losing streak behind them last week with a buzzer-beating 62-61 win over East Central University and a 77-62 triumph over Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
“I hope it’s an indication of us buying in and moving forward,” said Mark Downey, ATU head men’s basketball coach. “The guys are listening and trying to buy into what we’re doing. Our word this year has been selfless…to be truly selfless on the basketball court is to be genuinely happy and joyful for your teammates when they succeed. We’ve been talking about that over and over and over again. We’re trying to make individuals a group, and hopefully it’s coming together.”
Harding (12-4, 8-2) has won four of its last five games and is just one game behind front-running Ouachita Baptist University in the GAC men’s standings. The Bisons dump trucked Southeastern Oklahoma State 87-54 on Thursday and East Central 96-62 on Saturday.
“I hope we’ve made a couple of steps in the right direction,” said Downey. “I definitely think we have. It will be a tall task on Thursday, but we’ll be ready.”
Live coverage of the ATU-HU doubleheader will be provided by KCJC 102.3 FM, the River Country KCJC website and www.arkansastechsports.com.
Talk to you on the radio.
Tech Tidbits is a column written by Sam Strasner, ATU director of university relations and radio play-by-play voice for ATU football and basketball.
