SEARCY, Ark. — The No. 8 Arkansas Tech women's basketball team couldn't find a way to climb back into the game after falling into an early hole, suffering its first Great American Conference loss of the season in a 74-61 setback to No. 23 Harding Thursday evening at Rhodes Field House.

Anissa Pounds and Fatima Adams led the Golden Suns (14-2, 9-1 GAC) with 16 points each, while Danielle Frachiseur added 11. All three, plus Jacinda Myers-Sanders and Mary Crow, posted five rebounds each, but that wasn't enough to lift Tech in a statistic it usually wins. The Bisons (14-2, 10-0 GAC) outrebounded the Suns 39-31 for the game, including a 27-11 advantage and 10 offensive boards in the first half.

"We just needed that second effort on rebounds," head coach Dave Wilbers said. "They were running down a lot of balls, they were pushing us underneath the basket and they were probably more physical than us. It's just about getting out and rebounding the ball.

"It's hard when you're playing, you don't realize how bad you're getting outrebounded, but it was evident tonight in the first half, and it was too much of a deficit to overcome."
In that first half, a three-point play from Adams tied the game at 3-3 just over a minute in, but the Bisons hit another 3-pointer that put them ahead at the 18:16 mark, a lead they would hold for the rest of the game. A 6-0 run pushed the lead out to 14-5 for the hosts, and they eventually led by 11 with 12:34 left before Tech scored eight straight on a triple from Fabiana Monte and baskets out of Fraschiseur and Shaunice Robinson to pull it to 18-15.

From there, Harding netted 18 of the next 26 points to go up 13 with 4:28 to play, and answered right back after a quick 5-0 spurt from the Suns. Those five points in the final minute of play kept the 13-point advantage intact, as they entered the break with a 44-31 lead.

The Bisons earned their largest lead of the game at 15 early in the second half, and although Tech would start to chip away at that margin a number of times, an 8-0 run that covered 2:53 and was bolstered by six points from Adams only got them to within four at 52-48. A quick 3-pointer from Harding shot the lead back to seven with 11:28 to play, and other than a 13-second stretch a few minutes later that saw the margin trimmed to six, that was a close as the Suns would get for the remainder of the contest.

"It's a tough environment against a really good basketball team," Wilbers said. "But it's one conference game and on the road. There's a lot left to play, and we'll see how our team responds."

Tech shot 21-of-55 from the field for the game, including 3-for-11 from 3. Its 31 rebounds were its second lowest of the season, and was just the second time the Suns were outrebounded in a contest.

The team returns to action Saturday back at Tucker Coliseum, with a 1 p.m. tip against Henderson State.