MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Junior guard Anissa Pounds scored her 1000th career point and Fatima Adams scored 29 points to lead the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (19-2, 17-0 Great American Conference) to a 77-68 victory over Southern Arkansas (14-7, 10-7 GAC) to clinch a share of the GAC regular season championship.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Southern Arkansas jumped out to a 13-5 lead with 6:55 to go in the first quarter after making 5-of-9 from the field to start out the game.
• The Golden Suns answered by going on an 18-2 run for the remainder of the quarter, getting big production out of Adams and Pounds, combining to score 18 of the Golden Suns' 23 points in the quarter.
• After jumping out to a 39-32 lead on a pair of Adams free throws with 1:48 to go in the second quarter, the Lady Muleriders ended the half on a 9-0 run take a 41-39 lead into halftime. It was Arkansas Tech's first halftime deficit of the season in GAC play.
• Pounds' 1000 career point came at a crucial time in the game. With SAU leading 62-60 with 8:02 to go in the fourth quarter, Pounds hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Golden Suns a 63-62 lead.
• After the Lady Muleriders reclaimed the lead at 64-63 with 7:03 left to play, Tech responded with a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 72-64 lead.
• SAU cut the Golden Suns lead to 72-68 with 1:37 left to play, but a Danielle Frachiseur steal and fastbreak outlet to Adams for a layup made it 74-68 with 53 seconds left. Moments later, Bre Brooks came up with a crucial steal and was fouled, knocking down two free throws and giving Arkansas Tech the 77-68 victory.

NOTABLES

• With a Harding loss at Ouachita Baptist, Arkansas Tech earns at least a share of their fourth GAC title in the five years of the league's existence. It was Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers' sixth regular season conference title since taking over as Arkansas Tech's head coach in 2007.
• In her milestone game, Pounds finished the contest with 15 points by going 5-for-11 from the three-point arc. Pounds is the second Golden Sun to reach the 1000-point milestone this season, as senior forward Fatima Adams scored her 1000th point against Southern Nazarene back on Feb. 6.
• Adams led the Suns with her eighth double-double of the season by scoring 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting and 7-for-10 from the free throw line to go with her 13 rebounds. It was Adams 22nd career double-double as a member of the Golden Suns.
• Tech's defense came alive in the second half win over SAU, as the Golden Suns held the Lady Muleriders to 31-percent (10-of-32) from the field and 10-percent (1-of-10) from the three-point arc in the second half.

COACH WILBERS SAYS

• About the win – "I'm very proud of the way we played today. I think the expectation of this team was to win a conference championship. However, we know we have a lot more in front of us. We have to go to Harding on Monday and that's always a tough place to play, but we'll have a good practice tomorrow and we'll be ready."

WHO'S NEXT
Arkansas Tech will have the opportunity to win the GAC title outright on Monday, Feb. 15, as the Golden Suns will travel to Searcy to take on Harding. Tip-off for the game is slated for 5:30 p.m.