RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team picked up a 94-45 win in their season opener against Champion Christian in Tucker Coliseum on Monday night. The Golden Suns begin the 2022-23 season with a 1-0 record.
Starting things off for Arkansas Tech was
Jalei Oglesby with a nice two point jumper off the assist from
Alex Hill to score the first bucket of the season. Senior guard
Kaley Shipman began her season with a fast break two pointer, then a steal from Oglesby led to a pass up the floor to Shipman for a layup giving her a pair of back-to-back baskets, which gave Tech an early 6-0 lead.
The Tigers quickly responded after their slow start on offense with a 12-4 run that put them up over the Golden Suns 12-10 with 4:06 left to play in the first quarter of action.
Following the run by Champion Christian, Shipman quickly got the Golden Suns back on track knocking down a pair of back-to-back three-ball's to put them on top 16-12. A layup by
Dana Thompson would end the scoring for the quarter as Arkansas Tech came out on top with a 20-17 lead.
The Golden Suns started the second quarter hot as Thompson and Claragrace Prater sunk back-to-back layups, while
Hayleigh Wyrick knocked down her first triple as a member of the Golden Suns off the assist from
Claudia Bridges.
The explosive offense continued for Arkansas Tech as Oglesby and
Julie Wagner both got layups to fall as the Golden Suns began to pull away from Champion Christian with 6:02 left in the second quarter. Another three from Shipman as well as a two-point jumper for
Marta Duda and a layup from Oglesby pushed the lead up to 42-21.
The Golden Suns would close out the first half of action following a pair of layups by Duda and
Anna Myers to take a 47-28 halftime lead into the locker room.
The third quarter of action was all about Arkansas Tech as they began the quarter on a 12-2 run capped off by a layup from Duda to take a commanding 59-29 lead over the Tigers with 4:52 left to play in the third quarter of action.
The Golden Suns continued the relentless onslaught of offense that saw buckets from
Sarah Edmondson, Wyrick, Prater and Duda, which eventually led to a 74-29 lead over Champion Christian with 1:51 left to play in the third quarter.
Jaki Rollins would close out the third quarter for Arkansas Tech with a triple as they still held a big 77-31 lead. The Golden Suns outscored the Tigers 30-3 in the third quarter.
Myers started the scoring to begin the final quarter of action with a layup. Following some baskets for Champion Christian, Bridges hit two back-to-back three pointers to continue the offensive slugfest for the Golden Suns. Following a layup by Bridges,
Rilee Underwood would score her first point of the season at the free throw line to give Arkansas Tech an 88-43 lead with 2:41 left in the game.
Brooklyn Kannady would score the final bucket of the night for Arkansas Tech with a triple off the assist from Edmondson to give the Golden Suns a monster 94-45 season opening win over Champion Christian.
Leading the scoring effort for the Golden Suns was the pair of Oglesby and Shipman with 16 and 15 points, respectively. The leading pair also shot the ball well as Oglesby went 8-of-14 from the floor, while Shipman went 5-of-9 and 3-of-6 from long range. Duda also added some solid scoring putting up 11, while Edmondson scored 10 against the Tigers. On the boards, Oglesby pulled in a team-high seven, while Thompson and Edmondson each hauled in six rebounds.
Oglesby also stayed active in the passing lanes picking up four steals on the night, while the pair of Wagner and Edmondson stayed active down low on defense with two blocked shots each.
The Golden Suns return to action this Thursday on the road as they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Maryville. The game is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
