RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.— Fatima Adams turned in a 25-point, eight-rebound effort, Anissa Pounds scored 13 points, while Katrina Hayden had an 11-point, four-assist effort as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (2-0) used a late run to pull away from the 22^nd-ranked Delta State Lady Statesmen (0-2), winning 72-61 on Friday at Tucker Coliseum.

"This was a physical game," said Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers. "I'm really proud of our team. When the game was in a crucial state, I think the hustle play of Shaunice (Robinson) switched momentum, and from then on we really established our lead."

The game saw nine tie scores and 17 lead changes in what was a true back-and-forth contest.

Delta State opened scoring just 12 seconds into the contest on a Rhandi Ball layup, but the Golden Suns answered on the next possession, grabbing a pair of offensive boards to set up a 3-pointer by Hayden to take an early 3-2 lead. The Lady Statesmen took the lead on the following possession, and at the 17:52 mark, the Golden Suns tied the contest at 4-4 as Fatima Adams split a pair of free throws.

Delta State's Carly Keller sunk a long 3-pointer to give the Lady Statesmen a 7-4 lead at the 17:32 mark of the first half, a lead that would be DSU's largest lead of the half. The Golden Suns would reclaim the lead briefly after back-to-back jumpers by Breonna Johnson and Adams, but Chelsey Rhodes hit a 3-pointer to quickly put the Lady Statesmen back ahead by a 10-8 margin.

Tech tied the contest on a Fatima Adams layup on the next possession, but the Lady Statesmen reclaimed a 12-10 lead at the 15:38 mark after a Ball layup.

Pounds hit a long 3-pointer to put the Golden Suns ahead again, and a pair of free throws by Mary Crow gave the Golden Suns a 15-12 lead with 15:09 to play in the half.

After Delta State reclaimed the lead two minutes later, Crow hit  jumper at the 12:44 mark to put Tech ahead by one (17-16). A free throw by the Lady Statesmen at the 12:21 mark tied the game at 17-17, and for the next four minutes, the defenses would keep points off the board. Not until the 8:33 mark, when Adams hit a layup, was the tie broken, but just 20 seconds later, Rhodes' jumper for the Lady Statesmen tied the game at 19-19.

Tech scored the next four points of the contest to take it's a 23-19 lead, its biggest of the opening half, with 6:51 to play. However, Delta State used a 5-0 run to pull ahead by one (24-23) with 5:02 to go until halftime.

Adams split a pair of free throws at the 4:25 mark to tie the game at 24-24, and the Golden Suns outscored DSU 6-2 down the stretch to carry a four-point (30-26) lead into the half.

The Lady Statesmen seized momentum coming out of the second half,  using a 7-0 run to take a three-point (33-30) lead just 90 seconds into the half. But once again, the Golden Suns reclaimed the lead at the 17:06 mark after a pair of baskets by Johnson.

As the two teams again traded leads over the next seven minutes, Delta State went from a one-point deficit (43-42) at the 11:40 mark to a five-point lead (48-43) with 9:17 to play thanks to a 6-0 run. With DSU holding a four-point (50-46) lead at the 8:04 mark, the Golden Suns used a 9-0 run to claim a five-point lead with 6:18 to play, and Arkansas Tech would not trail again.

The Golden Suns outscored the Lady Statesmen 26-11 over the final eight minutes of the game, with the final score providing the largest margin of the contest.

Tech outshot Delta State 50.0 to 49.1 percent, with the Golden Suns shooting 56.5 percent in the second half. Tech held an 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers, an 11-6 advantage in second chance points, a 15-9 advantage in bench points, a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint, and an 8-2 advantage in bench points.

The Golden Suns will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 23, facing Paine College at Tucker Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be carried live on KWKK-FM (100.9), while live stats, audio, and video are available at www.arkansastechsports.com.