RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team falls to Southern Nazarene 70-77 in a close overtime matchup. Following the game, the Golden Suns are 7-4 overall with a 5-2 record in conference play.

The first half proved to be a strong one for the Golden Suns as Alex Hill and Jalei Oglesby got things going with a pair of layups inside the paint to get the team off to an early 4-2 lead. The strong early offense continued as Oglesby dropped in a smooth jumpshot from midrange and Julie Wagner got a strong layup off the glass inside to fall stretching the Golden Sun lead out to 8-4 with 6:40 left to play in the first quarter of action. 

A layup by Kaley Shipman and a pass from Hill down to Claudia Bridges inside for the layup once again kept up the offensive prowess for Tech who now held an early 12-6 lead over the Crimson Storm. Southern Nazarene managed to get a pair of buckets, but Shipman would silence their run with a strong layup underneath the hoop off the assist from Hayleigh Wyrick. 

The Golden Suns ended their scoring in the first quarter off a pair of made free throws by Jaki Rollins and one made shot at the line from Shipman to win the first quarter 17-12.

Arkansas Tech got right to work on offense to start the second quarter as Shipman nailed a jumpshot inside the paint and Oglesby connected on a midrange jumper to extend the lead ahead to 23-12. The Crimson Storm scored a few buckets, but the Golden Suns would once again squash any kind of run as Bridges nailed a shot from beyond-the-arc. 

To end the first half of action the Golden Suns got three shots to fall, two from Dana Thompson and one from Marta Duda, to take the 32-26 lead into the locker room at the break. 

In the first half, the Golden Suns outscored the Crimson Storm in both quarters and held them under 15 points on defense in both quarters. 

To start the second half, the Crimson Storm managed to get some buckets and pull ahead, but not before a shot by Thompson and a few free throws from Bridges and Shipman put the Golden Suns back in the game. Another pair of made free throws at the line for Shipman got the Golden Suns back within five at 40-45 with 3:45 left to play in the third quarter. 

The Golden Suns excelled at getting the Crimson Storm into foul trouble in the third quarter and made the most of their opportunities at the line knocking down 9-of-12 shots as a team for the quarter, Entering the fourth quarter, the Golden Suns trailed just 47-51. 

Once again, the Golden Sun offense would shine in the fourth quarter as a steal by Oglesby led to a fastbreak coast-to-coast layup off the glass for the Howe, Okla. native making it just a one possession game. After a stop on defense, the Golden Suns found their go ahead bucket as Oglesby swung a pass over to Hill on the wing and knocked down a huge three-point bucket to take the lead 52-51. 

The high-level scoring continued for the Golden Suns as Shipman and Hill both got two back-to-back layups to fall as they ran up the score 56-51 over Southern Nazarene with 7:40 left to play in regulation. From here, the game went back and forth with both sides trying to come out on top. After the Crimson Storm took a narrow lead, Bridges hit a big time clutch three-pointer to once again put the Golden Suns back on top 59-57.

Two back-to-back shots by Hill and Wyrick gave the Golden Suns a 67-64 lead with 1:55 left. Southern Nazarene would tie the game off an and one following a made basket that would send the game into overtime.

Oglesby got the scoring going for Arkansas Tech in the overtime period with a layup inside. However, a foul down the court on the other end took Oglesby out of the game with five fouls in overtime. The Golden Suns would get another basket off a made free throw by Thompson, but would ultimately fall just short to Southern Nazarene in overtime. 

Leading the game for the Golden Suns was Shipman with 16 points and an assist. Following behind Shipman was Oglesby with 14 points, seven boards, an assist and two steals. Rounding out the list of double figure scorers for Arkansas Tech was Hill who put up 11 total points against the Crimson Storm and also came away with three rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals in the game. 

The Golden Suns return to action on Saturday as the Oklahoma Baptist Bison come to town. The game against the Bison is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off in Tucker Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.  Read Full Article