BETHANY, Okla. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team fell to Southern Nazarene 54-57 on the road in a close battle on Saturday afternoon. Following the game, the Golden Suns are 13-8 overall with an 11-6 record against Great American Conference opponents.
The Golden Suns opened the game on the attack getting off to a 6-0 run that saw buckets from
Jalei Oglesby and
Kaley Shipman. The Crimson Storm followed with a 9-0 run to take the narrow 9-6 lead with 4:19 left to play in the first quarter of action.
A jumper by Oglesby in the paint one from
Julie Wagner would bring the Golden Suns back within one point of Southern Nazarene down 10-11.
Claudia Bridges would nail the final shot of the quarter with a long range triple from beyond-the-arc to lift Tech to a 13-11 lead to end the first quarter.
The second quarter of action proved to be tough on the offensive side for both teams as strong defense came into play. The first bucket of the quarter for Tech would come from a 1-of-2 trip at the free throw line by Shipman to keep her team ahead 14-10.
Both sides would remain scoreless over the course of the next three minutes but Southern Nazarene and Arkansas Tech would trade back-to-back buckets to find the game tied at 16-16 with just over five minutes left to play in the first half of action.
Arkansas Tech would end the first half with a lead as
Dana Thompson got a jumpshot inside the paint to fall off a dish from Bridges, while Bridges buried another three ball late in the quarter to secure the 21-20 halftime lead for the Golden Suns.
Over the course of the third quarter, both sides would trade buckets back and forth leading to six lead changes and four ties throughout the duration of the quarter. Arkansas Tech would have their best shot efficiency period in the third getting 50.0% (7-of-14) of their shots from field goal range to fall. The Golden Suns would once again find themselves holding onto a lead at the end of the quarter as back-to-back buckets from Oglesby and Shipman put them on top 37-35 heading into the final quarter of play.
To open the final quarter,
Alex Hill and Shipman would get a pair of shots from the floor to fall to extend the Tech lead out to 41-37 with just under nine minutes left to play in the game. Southern Nazarene would try and get back in the game with a few made shots and successful trips to the free throw line to pull back within one of Tech.
Two buckets from Thompson and Oglesby as well as a 2-of-2 trip at the line for Shipman would hold the Golden Suns steady down the stretch with a 49-47 lead. After a 2-of-2 trip at the line for the Crimson Storm, they would connect on a three-point shot which would be the dagger. The Golden Suns would get as close as back within one, but the three-pointer was enough for Southern Nazarene to barely escape with the narrow 57-54 win.
Leading the day for Arkansas Tech was Oglesby with a 21 point and nine rebound outing. Oglesby also came away with two steals and a block against the Crimson Storm. Rounding out the leaders for the Golden Suns in the game was Shipman with 15 points on the afternoon.
The Golden Suns will close out their road trip on Monday as they head to Searcy, Ark. to take on Harding. The game against the Bisons is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off on Monday night.
