BARTLESVILLE, Okla.– Jayana Sanders turned in a 21-point, seven-rebound performance, scoring 17 of her 21 points after the fourth quarter, Ke'Vonshaye Stackhouse added 18 points and Lyrik Williams turned in a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (15-15) won an 87-84 overtime contest against Southern Nazarene (17-13) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Great American Conference championship tournament.
 
NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns will face top-seed and No. 8/5 Southwestern Oklahoma in the Great American Conference championship game on Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first quarter was controlled by the Crimson Storm, who opened the game on a 7-0 run and extended the advantage to ten (16-6) with 3:00 remaining in the quarter.
• Tech cut the advantage to five (18-13) after a Leighton Taylor 3-pointer, and SNU took a 21-15 advantage into the second quarter. 
• After Tech opened scoring in the second with a 3-pointer by Kiara Moses that pulled the Golden Suns to within three (21-18), SNU opened the game up to 10 points (31-21) and led by as many as 12 (41-29) in the closing minutes of the half before carrying an 11-point advantage (43-32) into the break. 
• Tech chipped away at the SNU lead throughout the third quarter, with a pair of Ke'Vonshaye Stackhouse free throws at the thirty-second mark pulling Tech to within two (56-55) at the quarter break. 
• Tech was unable to cut into the SNU lead further in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, with the Crimson Storm leading by as many as seven (66-59) with 6:31 to play. 
• The Golden Suns rallied to pull to within two at the 4:42 mark (68-66). SNU was able to push its advantage back to six (74-68) with 2:53 to play, but the Golden Suns again pulled to within two (74-72) with 1:05 remaining. 
• SNU's Madeline Schroepfer hit a layup with 35 seconds remaining to extend the Crimson Storm lead to four (76-72), and after the Golden Suns were whistled for an offensive foul on the following possession, Tech was forced to foul.
• SNU was unable to convert all its free-throw attempts, and a Jayana Sanders 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds to play tied the game at 77-77, and the Golden Suns came up with a defensive stop to send the game into overtime. 
• Tech took its first lead of the game (79-77) at the 3:24 mark of overtime on a Sanders layup. 
• The Golden Suns led by three (80-77) with 2:42 to play before the Crimson Storm rallied to tie the game and briefly reclaim the advantage with 50 seconds to play (84-83), however Sanders hit another key layup with 36 seconds to play to give Tech a one-point (85-84) lead.
• Sanders was then fouled with 8.1 seconds remaining and hit one free throw to give Tech a two-point (86-84) lead.
• SNU's Madeline Schroepfer was fouled with 5.2 seconds to play and missed both free throws (the second intentionally) and the Golden Suns got the ball back with 5.2 seconds to play. 
• Leighton Taylor was fouled on the subsequent inbound and hit the first free throw to set the Tech lead to three, and SNU's final shot fell short to seal the win. 

NOTABLES

• In the history of the GAC Women's Basketball championships there have been four overtime games and the Golden Suns are 4-0 in each of those contests. 
• The Golden Suns did not lead during regulation, making this the first contest of the four in which the Golden Suns did not lead during the first 40. 
• All five Golden Suns starters fouled out in the contest.
• Tech outshot SNU 44.8 to 42.1 percent for the contest.
• The Golden Suns were outrebounded 43-39. 
• SNU held a 15-13 advantage in points off turnovers, a 26-24 advantage in points in the paint, a 13-10 advantage in second-chance points, and a 19-8 advantage in fast-break points. 
• The Golden Suns shot 64.3 percent from the floor in the third quarter, outscoring the Crimson Storm 23-13 during that stretch. 
• Arkansas Tech is 3-0 all-time against Southwestern Oklahoma in the GAC championship tournament, beating the Bulldogs in overtime 70-66 in the 2013 championship game, 106-85 in the 2016 championship game, and 96-60 in the 2017 semifinals.