FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team ventured away from Tucker Coliseum for the first time this season on Tuesday night and were highly-successful with an impressive 73-65 win at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Keying the road win for the Golden Suns was a 14-0 run over the final 3:30 of the second quarter. That run saw the Golden Suns flip a four-point deficit into a 10-point lead at the break.
About three minutes prior to the run, the Golden Suns trailed by their largest amount, six points, 24-18, with 6:34 to play in the period. At the 5:06 mark, the deficit was five points, but moments later, the Golden Suns' furious finish to the second quarter started to take hold thanks to a three-pointer by
Alex Hill.
It was the first made three for the Golden Suns to that point of the game as they were previously 0-for-4. Including Hill's initial make, Tech would go on to make three of their next four trifectas with
Hayleigh Wyrick accounting for the other two.
The momentum from the late second quarter push did not hang back in the locker room, rather it found its way back to the court for the Golden Suns in the third quarter.
In that quarter, the Golden Suns pushed their lead out to 20 points by the 6:23 mark and went up by as much as 29 points by the end of the period on a pair of last-second free throws by Hill. Over that 10-minute stretch, the Golden Suns shot 52% overall from the floor (12-of-23) on their end and held UAFS to just 23% shooting on their end (3-of-13). The Golden Suns also forced eight turnovers in the third quarter.
Trailing big heading into the fourth quarter, UAFS began to mount a comeback effort and flipped the script that played out in the third quarter as they shot 53% overall from the floor (8-of-15) in the fourth quarter while holding Tech to 25% shooting (3-of-12).
That allowed the Lions to slowly chip away at the Tech lead and by the final horn, bring the gap within single digits, 73-65.
Statistically, the Golden Suns had four players reach double figures and were led by Hill's 23 points, which matched her season-high. Behind Hill was Wyrick and
Julie Wagner with 14 points apiece. Wyrick's 14 came off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting overall. Wagner's 14 came in a starting role and saw her go an efficient 7-of-14 from the floor. The 14 points were also a career-high for Wagner.
Pacious McDaniel rounded out double-figure scoring with 10 points. She also led the team in rebounds, assists and steals with nine boards, six dimes and four takeaways.
The Golden Suns will now prepare for their Great American Conference opener on Thursday, November 30 at Arkansas-Monticello. Tip-off against the Cotton Blossoms is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from the Steelman Fieldhouse.
