RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their week off from play, the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team loses their first conference game to Henderson State 78-67 at home in Tucker Coliseum. Following the game, the Golden Suns move to 4-3 overall with a 2-1 record in Great American Conference play.

The Reddies opened up scoring in the game with a three-point basket, but Tech quickly responded with a jumpshot inside the paint by Dana Thompson. Henderson State stretched out to a 6-2 lead, but a quick layup inside by Alex Hill and a mid-range jumper by Jalei Oglesby tied things up at 6-6. 

The rest of the first quarter of action quickly unfolded as both sides continued to battle back and forth before the Reddies would hit the final shot of the quarter to lead the Golden Suns 24-20 at the end of the first quarter.

The Golden Suns came out of the gate hot to start the second quarter of action as Oglesby let a three ball fly for the opening points, while Thompson collected an offensive rebound and found Kaley Shipman on the cut to the basket for the layup in the paint to give the Golden Suns a 25-24 lead. Oglesby and Hayleigh Wyrick would extend that lead with a pair of mid-range jumpshots to make it a 29-26 Arkansas Tech lead. 

The Reddies connected in a three-pointer to tie the game at 29-29 with 4:35 left to play in the first half. The Golden Suns would get within one point, but a jumper inside would give the Reddies 35-33 going into the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Henderson got off to a quick 8-3 run to find themselves with an early 41-36 lead over Tech. Thompson would carry the scoring load for the next two Golden Sun buckets with a pair of layups in the paint as they still trailed the Reddies 40-47 with 5:58 left in the third quarter of play.

The Golden Suns would find layups inside the paint from Claudia Bridges, Wyrick and Hill for their last three buckets of the third quarter, but the Reddies still held onto a 57-47 lead heading into the final quarter of action.

The Reddies opened with a three-pointer, but Oglesby fired back and nailed a long bomb of her own from beyond-the-arc to try and get the Golden Suns back in the contest. Henderson State kept hitting their shots with a pair of layups and a three-pointer to take a 68-50 lead with 6:48 left to play in the game. 

Bridges would hit her first three of the evening with 4:12 left, while Hill and Shipman drove to the hoop for buckets inside the paint. The Reddie offense became to much as they kept hitting shots at a high rate. Bridges would hit another pair of three's before the end of the game, but Henderson State would walk away with the 78-67 win over Arkansas Tech in Tucker Coliseum.

The Golden Suns had four total players hit double figures in scoring and were once again led by Oglesby with 19 points on an efficient 70.0% (7-of-10) shooting from field goal range. Oglesby also shot well from behind three-point territory going for 2-for-3 and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. She collected five total rebounds, picked up a steal and blocked one shot to round out her night.

Following Oglesby was Bridges with a season-high 14 points with two boards, three assists and a steal. Rounding out the double figure scorers for the Golden Suns was Thompson and Hill each with 10 points against the Reddies. Thompson hauled in a team-high eight rebounds against Henderson State. 

The Golden Suns will hit the road on Saturday to Magnolia, Ark. for their next outing as they take on Southern Arkansas. The road game against the Muleriders is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off time in Magnolia. 



  Read Full Article