ALVA, Okla. – Jayana Sanders turned in a 18-point, four-assist effort, Cheyenne North notched her fourth double-double of the season and the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (16-2, 12-2 Great American Conference) forced 20 Northwestern Oklahoma turnovers as the Golden Suns rolled to an 84-74 win over the Lady Rangers (9-11, 5-9) on Thursday night at Percefull Fieldhouse.
 
NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns head to Weatherford, Okla. an 11:00 a.m. matchup on Saturday, Feb. 3 against No. 10 Southwestern Oklahoma.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Arkansas Tech opened up the game on an 18-0 run, highlighted by a Ke'Vonshaye Stackhouse 3-pointer. Northwestern scored its first points of the game (18-3) at the 5:10 minute mark.
• Tech finished the quarter on a 15-5 run (33-8). The Golden Suns went 6-for-9 from behind the arc in the opening quarter.
• Jacie Higgins connected on a layup (37-10) at the 8:39 minute mark to give Tech its largest lead of the first half.
• Northwestern used the next two minutes to spark a 6-0 run (37-16). The Lady Rangers trimmed the Tech lead to 18-points (42-24) after Jade Jones hit a 3-pointer at the 4:43 minute mark.
• The Golden Suns' pushed their lead back to 20-points (45-25) after Sanders hit a pair of free throws.
• NWOSU scored the next six points to put the score at 45-31 with 2:56 remaining in the half. Tech ended the first half on a 10-2 run (55-33).
• Both teams traded baskets over the opening minutes of the third quarter, Tech led 63-41 at the media timeout. NWOSU came out of the timeout on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 12-points (65-53) with 1:32 remaining in the third quarter.
• Tech pushed its lead back to 17-points (74-57) after Higgins hit a layup with 7:20 left in regulation.
• Northwestern cut into the lead yet again, as a 9-3 run trimmed the lead to ten points (76-66) with just under five minutes left in the game.
• The Lady Rangers cut the lead to eight-points (78-70), but that is as close as they would get as Tech went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minute of play to hold on for the win.

NOTABLES

• Tech held a 42-39 rebounding advantage.
• The Golden Suns were 21-of-29 from the free-throw line compared to NWOSU's 15-of-19.
• Tech outshot NWOSU 43.5 to 38.1 percent.
• The Golden Suns held a 34-26 advantage in points off turnovers while NWOSU held an 18-14 advantage in second-chance points.
• Tech went 9-for-16 from behind the arc.
• Tech had five players reach double-figures, led by Sanders with 18 points; Lyrik Williams with 14 points, North and Kylie Ladd added 13 points and Higgins tallied 12 points.
• North recorded her fourth double-double of the season and grabbed double digit rebounds for the fifth time this season.