SHAWNEE, Okla. - Following two great wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the Great American Conference Tournament that sent them to the championship game, the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team goes till the final buzzer but falls to Southwestern Oklahoma State 68-89 to finish as the runner-up closing out their 2021-22 season. Following the game, the league named
Jayana Sanders,
Tori Lasker and
Alex Hill to the All-Tournament team for their high-level performance over the course of the weekend.
Leading the Golden Suns in the championship matchup was Lasker who dropped her second game with at least 20 points on the weekend with 23. The senior guard shot 52.9% (9-of-17) from the floor and 50% (2-of-4) from long range and was able to come away with six total rebounds. Following Lasker was Sanders who scored 14 while shooting 75.0% (6-of-8) from the floor. Sanders poured in three rebounds, an assist and a steal in the contest as well.
Controlling a little bit of everything at both ends of the court was Hill and senior forward
Nikki Metcalfe. Hill finished the night with 11 points due to her strong presence on the line going 7-of-8 on freebies. The freshman guard also had a good defensive outing with six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. While Metcalfe finished with six points on the offensive side of the ball, she was once again the firm anchor on defense for Arkansas Tech blocking three shots, picking up two steals and coming away with four rebounds.
As the first quarter of play began, both sides missed their first two shots of the game. Metcalfe would get the Golden Suns on the board first with a two-point jumper to make it a 2-0 game. The Bulldogs quickly struck back with back-to-back shots and a free throw to take a 5-2 lead. Southwestern then had an early three point barrage hitting long range shots on the next three possessions to find themselves up 14-4 over Tech with 2:15 left in the opening quarter of play. Arkansas Tech held the Southwestern Oklahoma offense to no baskets for the rest of the quarter which sparked a quick 6-0 run capped off by a jump shot in the paint for Sanders as well as a made free throw to put them back in the game trailing by four as the opening quarter came to a close.
The Bulldogs started the second quarter with another three pointer to extend their lead to 17-13. but Lasker struck right back with a three of her own. Later, a layup from Metcalfe tied the game at 17 a piece with 6:10 left to go in the first half.
The next few possessions saw both sides making good defensive stops to force turnovers but coming up empty in transition on offense. A successful 2-of-2 trip to the line for Lasker tied the game back up once again at 19 and Sanders would give the Golden Suns a 20-19 lead following her 1-of-2 trip to the charity stripe. Sanders would extend the lead to three with another jumper in the paint, but the Bulldogs would respond with another long range shot to tie the game once again. A jumper from Lasker put Tech back in control again up 24-22 with 1:46 left to go in the first half of play. Southwestern Oklahoma managed to knock down one final three pointer to take a narrow 25-24, one point lead into the halftime break.
Coming out of the halftime break, Southwestern did not hold back and took a huge lead after outscoring Arkansas Tech 35-14 to end the third quarter with a 60-38 lead. During the third quarter, the Bulldogs managed to hit six three-point baskets giving them 12 total made three's so far in the game. The Bulldogs would go on to break the GAC Tournament record for most made three's which was previously held by the Golden Suns as they knocked down 16 long range shots in the game.
In the fourth quarter of action, the Golden Suns would put together a solid offensive run outscoring the Bulldogs 30-29. Arkansas Tech was on fire from three in the fourth quarter sinking a perfect 100.0% (4-of-4) of their shots from long range, while the Bulldogs shot 80.0%(4-of-5) from three. The Golden Suns also shot very well from the floor in the final quarter hitting 60.0% (12-of-20) of their attempts from field goal range. Despite the fantastic effort and high-volume shooting numbers in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs just kept hitting shots of their own to pull away and win 89-68 over the Golden Suns.
The Golden Suns close their 2021-22 season with a great run in the GAC Tournament making it all the way to the championship game as the No. 7 seed and garnering positive results from it as three players were named to the All-Tournament team for their hard work during the weekend. Tech finishes the season with a 16-13 overall record and an 11-11 record in conference play. Prior to the championship game, the Golden Suns wrapped up the year with a three-game win streak starting with Southern Arkansas on the road in their final regular season game. Following that was their quarterfinal victory against the No. 2 seed Southern Nazarene. Their final win of the year came against the No. 3 seed Harding in the semifinal's of the GAC Tournament, to close out on an impressive run at the end of the season.
