RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. –
Hannah Villines shined in her senior day, leading the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to a 89-76 victory over Ouachita in the regular-season finale. The Golden Suns shot a blistering 56 percent from the field, going 33-of-59 and scoring 54 points in the point.
The teams traded points to open the game, before Ouachita went ahead six, 13-7 with 4:42 to go in the first quarter. The Lady Tigers kept the pressure on the Golden Suns and extended their lead to 12, 24-12 with 30 seconds left before a Villines jumper cut the lead to 10, 24-14 going into the second.
Arkansas Tech used an 11-2 run to pull within one, 27-26, almost erasing a 12-point deficit after jumpers from
Ashlei Lopez and
Jalei Oglesby. The Golden Suns took the lead 33-32 off an and-one from Villines with 5:04 to go in the half. A free throw from
Nikki Metcalfe stretched the lead to six, 39-33. Ouachita stormed back to take a 41-39 lead before Arkansas Tech took a four-point lead, 45-41 at the half.
Like most third quarters, the Golden Suns found their stride, stretching their lead to 12, 56-44 after free throws from Lopez with 5:39 left in the quarter. The Lady Tigers pulled within six, 58-52 with three minutes left in the quarter before a layup from Oglesby gave the Golden Suns a seven-point lead, 63-56 going into the final quarter.
Ouachita opened the quarter, scoring the first six points of the quarter to pull within one, 63-62 in the first minute of play. Arkansas Tech answered back going up six again, 70-64 after an and-one from Oglesby. The Golden Suns stretched the lead to 15, 86-71 after an Olgesby's jumper with a minute left in the game. Free throws from
Jayana Sanders capped off the scoring for Arkansas Tech, securing an 89-76 victory.
Villines led with 21 pints and nine rebounds, followed by Lopez with 20 points and Oglesby with 17. Metcalfe rounded out double-figure scoring with 10 points in the game. Lopez shot 80 percent from the field, going 8-of-10.
The Golden Suns will face the winner of East Central and Northwestern Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the GAC Championship tournament on Wednesday in Tucker Coliseum at 5:30 p.m.
