RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Staring down a six-point deficit with just 1:25 to play, a Fatima Adams jumper, a huge 3-pointer from Katrina Hayden and two free throws from Adams with four seconds on the clock sent the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team into overtime against East Central, where the Golden Suns blew past the Tigers for an 84-72 win Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.

Adams put up a monster showing, scoring a game-high 26 points and hauling in 22 rebounds, the fifth-highest single-game mark in the nation this season. Fabiana Monte added 15 points, including six in the extra session, and Anissa Pounds chipped in with 14 points and four rebounds.

"I'm real proud of this basketball team," head coach Dave Wilbers said. "We played a senior team here, with a bunch of seniors who know how to play ball and have been through the rigors of conference play. We struggled at times, but we just stayed the course, made some big plays, made some big shots and executed at the end."

Outside of a pair of ties, the No. 9/15 Golden Suns (14-1, 9-0 Great American Conference) trailed for the entire first half and well into the second before Adams drew them even with a layup at the 7:05 mark to make it 51-51. Danielle Frachiseur nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc nearly a minute later to give the hosts their first lead of the afternoon, but the Tigers (10-5, 6-3 GAC) grabbed it right back, going on an 11-1 run over the next four minutes to go back up by seven with 2:29 remaining.

A triple from Pounds pulled Tech closer, but ECU pushed the lead back to six before Adam's lay-in and Hayden's 3. After a Tiger timeout with 18 seconds left, the Suns brought the ball up the court, finding Adams on the baseline. Her shot from the right side rimmed out, but a foul sent her to the line, where she calmly hit both free throws. With four seconds left in regulation, Tech didn't allow the Tigers to get off a potential game-winning shot, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, the Suns went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. An ECU free throw temporarily gave the guests the lead 28 seconds in, but Hayden followed with a layup, and a free throw from Caroline Eubanks gave Tech the lead for good at 69-68 with 3:22 remaining. Hayden and Adams each posted five points in overtime. Monte scored all six of her overtime points in the final 1:10, including three free throws and a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left that capped the scoring and let the clock run out.

"I thought she played excellent," Wilbers said of Monte. "We were a little sluggish at first, but Fabi came in and gave us some energy and made some plays. Toward the end, they were trying to drive us on the perimeter, and she played real good defense for us."

In large part due to Adams' 22 boards—which tied a school record for a single-game performance—the Golden Suns won the rebounding battle 38-27. They shot 28-of-54 for the game, while holding the Tigers to just 11-of-28 during the second half and overtime.

Tech continues conference play Thursday evening, with a road trip to Searcy, Arkansas to face GAC co-leader Harding.