TIPPING OFF
Once again, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns showed their grit and determination to pick up a tough 96-90 road-win against Southern Arkansas. The Golden Suns enter their last game of the regular season with a 12-1 overall and 11-1 GAC record. With the No. 1 seed in the GAC Eastern Division, Arkansas Tech will open their GAC tournament run on Wednesday in Tucker Coliseum.
Despite trailing at halftime, the Golden Suns stormed back in the second half, pouring in 36 points in the third quarter alone. Arkansas Tech shot 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc and grabbed a season-high 22 offensive rebounds.
In the opening quarter, the Lady Muleriders went up seven, 11-4 in the first five minutes of play before the Golden Suns could pull within three, 15-12 after free throws from
Nikki Metcalfe with less than two minutes left in the quarter. A last second layup from
Hannah Villines kept the game close going into the second quarter, trailing 19-16.
The teams traded points to open the second quarter before a layup from
Jayana Sanders tied things at 24-24 with 5:41 left in the first half. The Golden Suns took their first lead since the opening four points, 28-27 after a free throw from Treylynn Tyler. The Lady Muleriders found the basket as time wound down, taking a 39-35 lead going into halftime.
Opening the third quarter, Southern Arkansas grabbed a quick eight point lead, 43-35 in the first minute and a half of play. The Golden Suns found their stride, tying things 57-57 after a layup from Tyler with three minutes to go. Arkansas Tech ended the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers from Villines and
Ashlei Lopez, putting the Golden Suns up six, 71-65 entering the final quarter.
The Golden Suns went up eight, 75-67 after free throws from
Jalei Oglesby with 8:35 left in the game. The Lady Muleriders did not go down eay as they pulled within one, 79-78 with 4:31 to go. Arkansas Tech went up eight again, 86-78 with less than three minutes to play before Southern Arkansas stormed back, tying things at 90-90 with less than a minute to play.
Kaley Shipman scored the final six points of the game to give the Golden Suns a 96-90 victory.
TECH TIDBITS
The Golden Suns enter play against Southern Arkansas with a 12-1 overall record and a 11-1 mark in the GAC. As a team, the Golden Suns are averaging 86.9 ppg and rank first in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns sport the eighth-best scoring defense in the league, giving up an average of 73.00 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage, the Golden Suns are the best in the conference as they are shooting at an overall clip of .483 (437-of-905), and limit opponents to a .353 mark (327-of-927).
Individually, the Golden Suns have five players averaging double figures in scoring. Newcomer
Ashlei Lopez leads the way at 16.9 ppg. Behind her is sophomore
Kaley Shipman at 14.8 ppg. Shipman is followed by senior
Jayana Sanders with 12.8 ppg and redshirt freshman
Jalei Oglesby with 12.8. Junior newcomer
Nikki Metcalfe rounds out double-figure scoring for the Golden Suns at 10.6 ppg.
The Golden Suns are coached by
Dave Wilbers, who is in his 14th season on the sidelines at Tech. A newly-minted member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 310-94. Overall in his time at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing six conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to eight NCAA Regional Tournaments.
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERS
Ouachita Baptist enters their game against the Golden Suns 3-3 overall and 3-3 in the GAC. The Lady Tigers got a late start on the season, missing their first 11 games of the season due to COVID-19 protocols but have since proven to be a team not to overlook. After losing their first three games of the 2021 season, the Lady Tigers enter the game on a three-game winning streak.
In their last matchup against Arkansas Tech, Ouachita led most of the game going into the final seconds before forcing the Golden Suns to their first overtime of the season. The Golden Suns escaped Arkadelphia with a 94-89 win.
The Lady Tigers took down Arkansas-Monticello in their last outing, 77-51. Ouachita opened the game with a 6-0 run in the first four minutes of play and never trailed in the 40 minutes. The Lady Tigers led by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Tigers have three players averaging double figures. Makayla Miller leads with 18.0 ppg, followed by Eden Crow with 17.0 ppg and Maija Gertsone with 13.7 ppg.
The Lady Muleriders are coached by Robert Dallimore, who is in his 2nd season at Ouachita Baptist. In his time as a head coach at Ouachita Baptist,Dallimore has amassed a 7-27 record.
