RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Fatima Adams poured in 28 points, while Anissa Pounds added 12 as the No. 14 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (20-3, 18-1 Great American Conference) claimed the outright GAC regular-season title with an 82-54 win over Henderson State (11-14, 10-9 GAC) on Thursday night at Tucker Coliseum. 

HOW IT HAPPENED?

• Henderson State opened the game's scoring at the 9:27 mark, but Pounds buried a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to give Tech a lead that it would only relinquish once more in the coming minutes.
• That final HSU advantage came at the 4:55 mark of the opening quarter, on a Victoria Stewart layup that gave the Reddies a 10-8 advantage.
• Again, Tech used the three-ball to claim the lead as Calli White hit a 3-pointer to give Tech a 11-10 advantage.
• Tech led by as many as seven points (21-14) with 2:04 to play in the opening quarter before taking a 24-19 advantage into the quarter break.
• Tech continued to grow its lead in the second quarter, pulling ahead by as many as 18 (39-21) before settling into the break with a 15-point (43-28) lead.
• The Golden Suns led by as many as 24 (64-40) with just over one minute to play in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter grew its lead to as many as 28 points (78-50) with 3:07 to play. The 28-point final margin of victory tied the team's largest lead of the contest.

NOTABLES

• Tech outscored HSU 38-30 in points in the paint and 8-2 in fast-break points. However, Tech did its best work in points off turnovers – outscoring HSU 19-1, and second-chance points, outscoring HSU 10-0.
• Tech held the Henderson bench scoreless – outscoring the Reddies 21-0 in bench points.
• Tech held a 41-33 advantage in rebounding.
• The Golden Suns committed just 13 turnovers to HSU's 18.
• Tech outshot HSU 50.8 percent to 39.3 percent.

COACH WILBERS SAYS

• On winning the outright title – "There was a lot of hard work and staying the course. It's a long, tough season. There are a lot of conferences in the country with good teams, but ours is one of the toughest in the country. The travel, you play 22 league games, there are four-day trips, and it's tough every night. It's a good accomplishment, and probably at the end of the year we'll smile and say thanks, but right now we're getting ready for the next game.
• On the advantages in points off turnovers and second-chance points – "Those are great stats. I think our team did really good. We played with a lot of enthusiasm. It's late in the season, and it's almost come out, run our stuff, do our job, business as usual. I think we did a good job attacking their zone."
• On the 33^rd 20-win season in program history – "It's harder now in Division II because we only play 26 (regular-season) games. It's a good accomplishment because they're all Division II wins. It's a tough schedule, but I don't think this team is satisfied with that."

NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns make their way to Monticello, Ark. this Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup against the Cotton Blossoms of the University of Arkansas at Monticello.