BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Fatima Adams turned in a monster 35-point, 7-rebound performance, Jacinda Myers-Sanders scored 18 points with 11 rebounds, Anissa Pounds scored 17 points and dished out eight assists, while Katrina Hayden scored 13 points with seven assists as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns women's basketball team (22-5) advanced to the Great American Conference tournament semifinals with a 96-84 win over Henderson State (10-17) on Thursday in the opening round of the GAC championship.
The Golden Suns picked up the win despite an impressive performance by HSU's Jasmine Settles, who set a new GAC championship record with her 44 points.

After Henderson scored the first points of the game just 12 seconds into the contest, the Golden Suns quickly knotted the game and took the lead at the 19:02 mark after a jumper by Adams and a layup by Pounds.

Tech stretched its lead to 13 (17-4) with 15:34 to play in the opening half, and held the lead in double digits for several minutes. The Reddies cut the Tech lead to six (27-21) with 10:11 to play in the half, but again the Golden Suns pushed ahead into the double digits (31-21) with baskets by Mary Crow and Adams.

Again, HSU narrowed the gap with a five-point swing, pulling to within 31-26 with 8:22 remaining in the opening half. However, Tech responded with a 9-0 run, stretching the lead to 40-26 after a layup by Caroline Eubanks with 6:20 to play in the half.

The Reddies' Annie Thomas buried a 3-pointer at the 3:21 mark to again pull HSU to within six (42-36), but the Golden Suns again pushed the lead into the double digits and took an 11-point (50-39) lead into the half.

HSU controlled the opening minutes of the second half, narrowing the Tech lead to one (60-59) with 14:08 to play. However, Tech went on a 12-3 run to push the lead back into double figures (72-62) with 9:15 to play, and the Golden Suns would never look back, leading by as many as 17 points down the stretch.

Tech held a 46-31 advantage on the rebounding glass, including a 21-11 advantage in offensive boards. The Golden Suns committed only seven turnovers in the contest, including just two in the second half.

Arkansas Tech will return to action on Saturday, facing third-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma in a noon semifinal at the Bruin Fieldhouse.