PITTSBURG, Kan. – Fatima Adams poured in 26 points with seven rebounds and five assists,
Aujana Dawkins turned in an 18-point, 10-rebound effort, while
Bre Brooks scored 12 points and
Calli White added 11 as the No. 12 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (27-3) topped No. 10 Missouri Western (27-4) 81-80 on Friday night at John Lance Arena.
NEXT UP- The Golden Suns will take on regional host and national No. 19 Pittsburg State on Saturday, March 12 in the Central Region Semifinal. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED- The two teams played relatively even basketball through the first quarter, with three ties and two lead changes.
- The Golden Suns carried a 24-21 lead into the second quarter.
- A Bre Brooks 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining in the second quarter gave Arkansas Tech a 10-point (36-26) lead.
- Missouri Western closed the quarter strong, cutting the Tech lead to three (40-37) with 57 seconds remaining in the half, before the Golden Suns stretched the lead back out to five (42-37) on a jumper by Adams with 40 seconds remaining.
- A pair of quick buckets by the Griffons to open the second half knotted the game at 42-42 with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter.
- MWSU stretched its quarter-opening run to 7-0 to take a 44-42 lead at the 8:07 mark, resulting in a Tech timeout.
- After MWSU stretched its lead to six (52-46) with 5:37 remaining, the Golden Suns narrowed the MWSU lead to two (52-50) by the 3rd quarter media timeout (4:28 mark).
- A layup by Brooks at the 2:10 mark of the third quarter tied the game at 56-56.
- Tech reclaimed the lead (57-56) with 56 seconds to play in the third quarter on a free-throw by Kelsey McClure, and carried a one-point (59-58) lead into the fourth quarter.
- MWSU retied the game at 62-62 on a jumper at the 7:35 mark of the fourth quarter.
- After Tech reclaimed the lead, MWSU buried a long 3-pointer to knot the game with 3:07 to play.
- With 1:16 remaining, MWSU's Chelsea Dewey converted an and-one opportunity to give the Griffons a 77-76 lead.
- Seconds later, Adams drilled a jumper in the paint that put the Golden Suns ahead for good. After a defensive stop, MWSU was forced to foul, and Calli White hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining that stretched Tech's lead to three.
- After another defensive stop, Adams rebounded another shot and was sent to the line with six seconds remaining. Adams hit the first free throw and missed the second, and the Griffons hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull to within one at the end.
NOTABLES- Adams has now scored 103 points in her last three games (34.3 points per game).
- Missouri Western outshot Tech 55.6 to 47.6 percent, but the Golden Suns were able to capitalize on 23 MWSU turnovers to take nine more shots than the Griffons.
- Tech held a 36-28 advantage in points in the paint, a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers, and an 18-10 advantage in second-chance points.
- The Golden Suns and Griffons were tied ten times in a game that saw eight lead changes.
-FIGHTON-
