RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team gets a win in their final regular season game of the year 94-87 over Southern Arkansas. The Golden Suns finish the 2022-23 regular season with a winning record of 14-12 overall and a winning 12-10 record in Great American Conference action.
The Golden Suns began the game on the attack as
Jalei Oglesby got right to work and helped get her team out to an early 9-4 lead. Another bucket from Oglesby as well as a layup from
Julie Wagner and a two-point shot by
Kaley Shipman helped extend that lead out to 15-7.
To end the first quarter of play, the Golden Suns would outscore the Muleriders 11-8 to head into the second quarter of action with a double-digit 26-15 lead.
The first quarter of play also marked the best shooting numbers in a quarter against the Muleriders in the game as they knocked down 60.0% (12-of-20) of their shots from field goal range. Overall for the game, the Golden Suns shot remarkably well as a team hitting 54.4% (37-of-68) of their shots from the field against Southern Arkansas.
Southern Arkansas would strike back to begin the second quarter of play hitting a pair of three-point baskets to make it a 26-21 lead for Tech, but Shipman would answer with a long range triple of her own putting the lead back at eight for the Golden Suns.
From there, the Muleriders put together an 8-0 run that would tie the game at 29-29 with 7:15 left to play in the second quarter of action.
Following the run by Southern Arkansas, the Golden Suns strung together a better run of 9-0 that saw buckets from Oglesby, Shipman and
Alex Hill to put the game back in their favor up 38-29 with just over four minutes left in the first half.
Dana Thompson would get herself going on offense with a pair of buckets down the stretch of the second quarter of play that helped the Golden Suns head into the halftime break holding a 46-44 lead over the Muleriders.
The Muleriders would take an early lead to start the third quarter with a three-pointer and would extend that lead out to 51-48 after a 2-of-2 trip to the line as well as a steal that lead to a layup on the other end of the court.
The Golden Suns would stay the course and keep the game in reach battling bucket-for-bucket against the Muleriders until a jumpshot by Oglesby would put the game back at a tie at 54-54 with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter of play.
Once again, Southern Arkansas would pull out to another lead due to a few fastbreak layups and a three-pointer that saw them hold the 66-59 lead. However, Arkansas Tech would close the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to three at 63-66 to enter the fourth and final quarter within a single possession.
Arkansas Tech quickly got rolling and took the lead back as Shipman hit layup in the paint, while Hill went 2-of-2 from the line to go up 67-66 over the Muleriders. Thompson would extend that lead with a pair of back-to-back buckets that included a steal leading to a fastbreak coast-to-coast run tp the rim for the Miami, Fla. native.
The offensive prowess became unstoppable for the Golden Suns to begin the fourth as they opened on a commanding 21-3 run to smother the Muleriders and take the 84-69 lead with 4:52 left to go in the game.
The 21-3 run by the Golden Suns displayed a high-level of offensive production as well as a strong defensive presence holding the GAC's No. 1 offense to just a mere three points in the opening 5:08 of the final quarter of action.
Southern Arkansas refused to go down without a fight however as they fought their way back into the game getting as close to within five-points. The Golden Suns 21-3 run to begin the final quarter of play would prove to be too dominant however as Arkansas Tech would hold on to pickup one of their best wins of the season in their highest scoring game of the season downing the Muleriders 94-87 to sweep the regular season series against them.
Leading the way in her final game in Tucker Coliseum was Oglesby who put together yet another outstanding performance with a 34-point and 17 rebound double-double. Oglesby was also efficient as ever shooting 60.0% (15-of-25) from field goal range. The 34 point explosion by Oglesby ties her career high in scoring to leave one last, stellar mark on the hardwood floor of Tucker Coliseum in her final showing for the home crowd fans. The Howe, Okla. native also added two assists and three steals to her afternoon outing.
Following Oglesby was Shipman who dropped 20-points shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line to go alongside four assists and two steals to end her final game in Tucker Coliseum on a high note.
Hill had another solid outing as well putting up 19 points with a team-high four steals. Closing out the leaders for the Golden Suns was Thompson with a 10 point and nine rebound effort against the Muleriders.
The Golden Suns wrap up their 2022-23 regular season slate and now set their focus on the 2023 Great American Conference Tournament in Shawnee, Okla. where they will enter in as the No. 4 overall seed and take on the No. 5 seeded Oklahoma Baptist Bison in the opening round of the tournament. Tip-off for the round one matchup against the Bison is set for noon on Friday, March 3 at FireLake Arena in Shawnee.
