ALVA, Okla. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team picks up another conference win on the road 63-56 against Northwestern Oklahoma State. Tech finishes their weekend trek into Oklahoma with a perfect 2-0 record after their win over the Rangers as well as defeating Southwestern Oklahoma State 79-72 in Weatherford on Thursday night. Following the win this afternoon, the Golden Suns are now 11-6 overall and remain tied for third place in the Great American Conference standings at 9-4 in conference play.

Getting the Golden Sun offense started in the opening minutes of play was Jalei Oglesby who took a strong drive inside for the first play and finished through hard contact at the rim for the basket and the three-point play opportunity at the line, which she converted.

Tech continued to produce a high powered offense early in the first quarter as Kaley Shipman knocked down her first of five long range triples of the game off an assist from Claudia Bridges. Alex Hill followed Shipman on the next possession connecting on a shot of her own from beyond-the-arc that put the Golden Suns up over the Rangers 9-4 with just under six minutes left in the first quarter of play.

The next points of the quarter saw Oglesby once again finish through contact on a foul for a made basket and would convert the and one opportunity at the charity stripe. Closing out the offense in the first quarter for the Golden Suns was Shipman with another three ball as well as a fastbreak two-point jumper following a steal by Hayleigh Wyrick on defense who passed it ahead to Shipman for the assist in transition.

In the first quarter, the Golden Suns shot lights out from beyond-the-arc splashing 3-of-6 from long range to help them enter the second quarter of play with a 19-16 lead over Northwestern Oklahoma. 

Hill knocked down the first bucket of the quarter for Arkansas Tech with a three-pointer off the assist from Bridges. The Rangers would fight their way back into the game, eventually taking a 25-23 lead following a trip to the free throw line with 4:35 left to play in the first half. Shipman would not let the Rangers have their lead for long as she connected on back-to-back triples on assists from ClaraGrace Prater and Oglesby to put the Golden Suns back in control with a 29-27 lead. 

A steal by Bridges on the defensive end led the Golden Suns to get back on offense and setup a play that saw Dana Thompson swing a pass over to Oglesby down low to knock down the two-point jumpshot and extend their lead in the second quarter. Heading into the break, the Golden Suns held a 32-28 lead. 

Northwestern Oklahoma would score the first bucket of the second half with a layup that would make it a one possession game as Tech still led 32-30 with 9:58 left to go in the third quarter. For the next 3:37 neither team could find a bucket as the offenses kept falling short on shots. The Golden Suns would be unable to get their first points of the third quarter until the 5:02 mark where a mid range jumpshot by Oglesby off the assist from Bridges would finally snap the cold streak.

Finding a way to get her team back into the game once again was Shipman who knocked down her fourth three-point basket of the afternoon to make it a one point game. A find from Thompson inside to Sarah Edmondson in the paint would get back the lead for the Golden Suns at 39-38 in the final few minutes of the third quarter. 

Edmondson would score the next pair of points for the Golden Suns as well grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back up to extend the lead. The Rangers would hit a jumpshot to score the final points of the quarter, but the Golden Suns would still end the third quarter on top 42-41 heading into the final quarter of action.

Thompson and Hill collected the first baskets in the final quarter of play for the Golden Suns with a pair of strong layups off the glass. Oglesby would hit another mid-range jumper and Hill found her way to the rim once again on a layup to give Arkansas Tech a 52-49 lead with just under five minutes left to play in the game. 

From here, the Rangers decided their best chance to get back in the game would be to foul Tech and make them earn it from the line. The Golden Suns responded well to the challenge sinking 7-of-8 from the line as a team in the quarter. Among the free throws, Thompson knocked down a pair of back-to-back buckets and Hill hit a layup off the pass from Bridges to score the final basket of the afternoon for Tech. The Golden Suns put up 21 points in the fourth for their highest scoring quarter of the afternoon to lift them to the 63-56 road win over Northwestern Oklahoma. 

Leading the way for Arkansas Tech in their win over the Rangers was Shipman scoring a team-high 19 points, while going 62.5% (5-of-8) on her shots from beyond-the-arc. Shipman also added four rebounds, two assists and a steal in her outing.

Following Shipman was Hill who finished her performance with 17 points and six boards. Hill did an excellent job at the line for the Golden Suns knocking down 5-of-6 freebies on the afternoon. Closing out the leaders in the win for the Golden Suns was Oglesby who put up 14 total points on 50.0% (6-of-12) shooting from field goal range.

The Golden Suns wrap up their road trip and will return home for their next outing against East Central. The game against the Tigers is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off next Thursday night in Tucker Coliseum. 


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