RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Jacie Higgins put together a 19-point, five rebound, five assist performance and Hannah Villines added 16 points and a team-high six rebounds as the hot shooting Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (11-13, 8-10 Great American Conference) raced past Arkansas-Monticello (6-16, 5-12 GAC) 82-59 on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.
 
NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 21, as Tech travels to Shawnee, Okla. To face Oklahoma Baptist. A 5:30 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Monticello jumped out to a 6-0 lead, as the Cotton Blossoms forced Tech to miss its first six shots.
• Arkansas Tech responded with an 8-0 run, fueled by six straight points from Hannah Villines (8-6).
• UAM scored the next five points to take an 11-8 lead with 3;20 remaining in the opening quarter.
• The Suns closed out the final three minutes on a 10-2 run, led by Higgins who scored eight points, giving Tech an 18-13 lead.
• Tech took a ten point advantage (32-13) after Higgins drained her third 3-pointer of the game at the 8:57 minute mark.
• The Suns maintained their ten point advantage over the next two minutes, until a 7-0 UAM run brought the score to 27-24 with 4:25 to play in the half.
• Tech stretched its lead back to seven points after a Ryan Goodsell layup (34-27).
• Monticello ended the half on a 7-3 run, putting the score at 37-34 at the break.
• Tech opened the third quarter on a 8-3 run to go up by eight (45-37) and later saw that lead grow to 11 points after Villines scored seven straight point for Tech (52-41).
• The Cotton Blossoms ended the quarter on a 4-1 run, trimming the deficit to eight (53-45) at the end of the third quarter,
• Tech controlled the fourth quarter, making ten of its last 13 shots, pushing its lead 16 (65-49) after a Higgins layup, before a Jayana Sanders 3-pointer gave the Suns an 18 point advantage (74-56) with 4:42 left to play.
• The Suns ended the game on an 8-2 run, ceiling an 82-59 win for Tech.

NOTABLES

• Sanders and Moses also scored in double-figures with 13 and 11 points apiece. Sanders also added a game-high seven assists.
• Tech outshot UAM 53.7 percent to 36.2 percent. The Golden Suns connected on a 76.9 percent clip in the fourth quarter. 
• Tech also held a 32-25 rebounding advantage and a 36-28 advantage in points in the paint.
• Tech forced 18 UAM turnovers and scored 25 points off those miscues.
• Tech made the most of its trips to the charity stripe, connecting on 14-of-16 free throws. Villines connected on four freebies.