RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their win over Lane College last Tuesday, the Golden Suns drop their home game against Christian Brothers 65-76 in Tucker Coliseum. The Golden Suns will begin Great American Conference play on Thursday with a 2-2 overall record.
The Lady Buccaneers started the game hot on offense with a 4-0 run, but a steal by
Jalei Oglesby that led to a layup at the other end put the Golden Suns on the board to make it a 4-2 game in the opening minutes of play.
A three-pointer by Christian Brothers would make it 7-2, but two quick baskets from Oglesby and
Alex Hill would put the game within one point at 7-6. A layup inside by Claragrace Prater would give Arkansas Tech their first lead of the afternoon at 11-10 and another layup by
Julie Wagner would make it a 13-12 lead. The Lady Buccaneers would hit a layup inside at the buzzer to take a 14-13 lead after the first quarter of play.
To start the second quarter, Christian Brothers would go on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 23-13 over the Golden Suns. Oglesby and
Kaley Shipman would try and get the Golden Suns back on track with a pair of layups, but the Lady Buccaneers kept getting their shots to fall on the offensive end of the floor. Down by 13 with 4:17 left to play in the half, Shipman drilled a three from beyond-the-arc to cut the lead down to 10 at 30-20. A two-point jumper from Oglesby made it a 32-25 game, but Christian Brothers ended the first half on a 4-0 run to take a 36-25 lead into the break.
Following halftime, Oglesby and Shipman would try and steer the Golden Suns in the right direction getting both of their first shots of the second half to fall, but a three by the Lady Buccaneers would keep them in front of Tech by 10. Arkansas Tech would get outscored in the third quarter 22-13 as they entered the fourth and final quarter of play down 20 at 58-38.
The fourth quarter proved to be the best offensive quarter of the day for Arkansas Tech as Oglesby and
Claudia Bridges both hit shots on the fastbreak, while
Hayleigh Wyrick knocked down a three-point bucket to make it a 63-47 game. Christian Brothers took control of the game for the next few minutes going on a 7-0 run, before the Golden Suns would get a three pointer from
Jaki Rollins to fall.
With 3:51 left to play in the game the Lady Buccaneers would get their final buckets of the day at the free throw line. The end of the game for the Golden Suns proved to be a great effort going on a fantastic 15-0 run to close the final 3:51 of the game, but time had run out and the lead was too high as Christian Brothers came away with the 76-65 win over Arkansas Tech.
Leading the team in scoring against Christian Brothers was Oglesby with a team-high 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting from field goal range. She also hauled in five rebounds and came away with two steals on the afternoon. Following Oglesby was Shipman with 11 total points. Shipman collected one rebound, assisted on two buckets and blocked a shot against the Lady Buccaneers. In the fourth quarter, Wyrick played great minutes off the bench ending her afternoon with seven points, two rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals in just the fourth quarter of play.
The Golden Suns will begin GAC play in their next outing as they host Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday. The game against the Cotton Blossoms is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off in Tucker Coliseum.
