ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Despite a flawless 32 points from senior guard Jayana Sanders, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns drop their first conference game of the season on the road 72-77 against Henderson State. Arkansas Tech moves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in GAC play.

The first quarter started off hot for both sides quickly hitting a two point shot and following up with a three point basket to tie it 5-5 with eigth minutes left in the first quarter of action.

From there, the Reddies made a quick 6-0 run thanks to two back-to-back layups from Karrington Whaley and a two point jumper from Ashley Farrar to hold an 11-5 lead over the Golden Suns with 5:09 left in the first quarter. Whaley was a perfect 9-9 from the floor until a missed layup midway through the fourth quarter.

The Golden Suns followed suit with their own 6-0 run fueled by a layup and jumper from Sanders and a jumper from sophomore guard Kaley Shipman to tie the game back up with both sides at 11.

With just 46 seconds left in the first quarter, Maci Mains connects on a three pointer for the Reddies and another layup from Whaley closes out the first with the Golden Suns down 11-16.

Henderson came into the second quarter firing right out of the gate as Lani Snowden hits a three pointer to extend the run to 9-0. A three point bucket from Shipman finally ends the offensive dry spell for the Golden Suns still trailing 15-22 with 8:24 left in the second quarter.

Whaley once again made it tough for Tech with a strong presence inside for the Reddies taking away rebounds from the Golden Suns and providing second chance points inside during the second quarter.

With 7:00 left in the first half freshman guard Wendy Clemmons checked in to provide a spark from the Golden Sun bench and help cut the lead. Clemmons quickly came up with a steal leading to a coast to coast fast break strong layup inside for her. Soon after, Sanders found her own steal and passed ahead to Clemmons who scored another big layup inside to give the freshman a quick four points in just over a minute to cut the Reddie lead to 22-26.

A layup and free throw from Sanders, followed by a lyup from Shipman finally gave Arkansas Tech a 27-26 lead with 4:29 left in the first half.

Whaley would close the half strong for the Reddies with a couple of free throws and layups inside to give Henderson a 34-29 lead heading into the break.

Once again, the Reddies started the third quarter hot with a 7-0 run to push them to what would be their largest lead of the game ahead by 12. Sanders knocked down a three ball and scored a layup to pull the Golden Suns back in the game down 34-41 with 7:02 left in the third quarter.

A layup from Sanders, a three basket from Clemmons and a layup and three ball from Shipman cut the Henderson lead down to just a one possession ball game at 47-49 with two minutes left in the third.

Two free throws from junior guard Ashlei Lopez tied the game at 50. The Reddies found one more basket before the fourth quarter as Sonni Martin hit a three pointer to give Henderson a 53-50 lead heading into the final quarter of action.

The Golden Suns did not allow the Reddies to get another strong start to the quarter battling them close early in the fourth.  Back-to-back layups from Whaley and Martin pushed Henderson to 61-57 lead with 7:08 left.

Arkansas Tech refused to go down and battled as Sanders made two quick layups to tie the game up once again at 63 with 2:53 left in the game.

Henderson found a three point basket and layup, but Tech responded with two layups from Sanders and Shipman, with Shipman hitting the free throw following a foul on the layup to once again tie the game at 68 with 1:36 left.

Henderson wouldn't trail again finding a three point basket, two layups inside and a few made free throws as Arkansas Tech fell 72-77.

Leading the game for the Golden Suns was Sanders with a stellar 32 points going 13-18 from the field and 5-7 from the line. Sanders also contributed four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Shipman also had a great game with 25 points and shooting 3-6 from long range. The sophomore guard also poured in seven rebounds and two assists.

The Golden Suns get another week of rest before they return to Tucker Coliseum next Saturday, December 18 to take on Southern Arkansas. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. that afternoon.