RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Fatima Adams scored 29 points and grabbed ten rebounds, Anissa Pounds turned in a 15-point, seven-assist, four-rebound effort, while Katrina Hayden scored 12 points with nine assists as the No. 12 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (8-0, 3-0 Great American Conference) held off a tough Southern Arkansas (4-5, 2-3 GAC) Lady Muleriders team, winning an 87-81 matchup on Saturday at Tucker Coliseum.

"That was a good, tough conference battle," said head coach Dave Wilbers. "I thought both teams really played well, really played hard. A lot of people made plays out there."

The Golden Suns took the lead just 17 seconds into the contest on a 3-pointer by Katrina Hayden and would never trail in the contest. Another 3-pointer by Hayden at the 13:53 mark pushed the Tech lead to ten (22-12), and the Golden Suns would lead by as many as 11 (25-14) with 12:35 to play in the opening half, but Southern Arkansas rallied, cutting the Tech lead to just two points (37-35) after a freethrow by Cemetra Jenkins with 2:13 to play in the half.

Tech was able to create a small amount of separation going into the half, going into the break with a six-point (44-38) lead.  

13 seconds into the second half, SAU's Chanel Miller buried a long 3-pointer to cut the Tech lead to three (44-41), but the Golden Suns used an 8-1 run to push the lead back into the double digits (52-42) with 17:43 to go.

Tech led by as many ass ten points (58-48) with 14:44 to play, but the Lady Muleriders would rally once again, narrowing the Golden Suns' lead to two (68-66) after an Aarika Reyna 3-pointer with 8:06 to go.
With the Golden Suns holding a three-point (73-70) lead approaching the five-minute mark, Pounds buried a long 3-pointer to push the Tech lead to six (76-70) with 5:02 to play, and after a transition bucket by SAU, Pounds buried another long 3-pointer to give the Golden Suns a seven-point (79-72) lead with 3:44 to play.

SAU scored the next four points to pull to within three (79-76) with 3:12 to play, but the Golden Suns were again able to stretch the lead, as Adams keyed a two-minute stretch that saw the Golden Suns push ahead by nine points (85-76) with 1:18 to play, and the Golden Suns held on for the victory.

Arkansas Tech held a 56.1 to 48.4 percent advantage in shooting, while SAU held a 38-27 advantage on the rebounding glass, led by a 15-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. Tech had 22 assists to SAU's 12, while the Golden Suns held a 22-13 advantage in points off turnovers.

Tech will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 14, hosting Benedict College in a 4 p.m. contest at Tucker Coliseum. The game will be carried live on KWKK-FM (100.9) in Russellville, with live video, audio, and statistics available at www.arkansastechsports.com.