SHAWNEE, Okla. - The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team adds to their strong record on the road with a 67-52 statement win over Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee. Following the win, the Golden Suns advance to 13-7 overall with an 11-5 record against Great American Conference opponents. In the GAC standings, Tech currently owns the No. 3 overall spot.
Getting the offense going for the Golden Suns was
Dana Thompson with a jumpshot in the paint to record the first bucket of the game. After a three-pointer fell for Oklahoma Baptist, Arkansas Tech quickly found a two-point jumper from
Jalei Oglesby off the assist from
Alex Hill and a long range triple from
Kaley Shipman off the pass from
Claudia Bridges to hold a 7-5 lead over the Bison early in the first quarter of play.
Following the three-point basket by Shipman, the Bison were able to put together a 7-0 run to take the lead 12-7 over Tech with 5:29 left to go in the opening quarter of action. The Golden Suns quickly got themselves back into the game due to some solid free throw shooting from
Julie Wagner and Oglesby as well as a pair of two point buckets by Oglesby to take back the lead 18-16 down the stretch of the first quarter.
The Golden Suns would emerge from the first quarter with a 20-16 lead.
The offense got right back to work to start the second as Shipman knocked down a two point jumpshot off the dish from Thompson following her offense board for the Golden Suns. Oklahoma Baptist managed to climb back into the game going on a 10-0 run to start their second quarter performance and take the lead 26-22 with 6:10 left to play in the second quarter.
A jumpshot from Shipman got the Golden Suns back within two as they headed back on defense. On defense, Thompson would poke loose a steal and find a running Shipman up court for the two point finish on the fastbreak to tie the game at 26-26.
Once again, the Bison would find a run to take back the lead at 32-26, but Bridges would bury a huge triple from beyond-the-arc to make it a one possession game again as the Golden Suns trailed 29-32 with just over three minutes to go in the first half of play.
Sarah Edmondson would deny the Bison at the rim on defense for a strong block with Oglesby collecting the defensive rebound and running it coast-to-coast up the floor through the Bison defense for the strong finish off the glass at the rim to bring the Golden Suns back within one.
After a successful trip to the line for the Bison making it a 36-31 lead, freshman
Hayleigh Wyrick would knock down a two point jumpshot at the buzzer to make it a 33-36 game headed into the break.
The Golden Suns would begin to take control in the second half as they quickly stole back the lead with buckets from Thompson, Oglesby and Bridges to hold a 40-36 lead over the Bison with 6:10 left to play in the third quarter.
For nearly half the quarter, the Golden Suns defense silenced the Bison offense not allowing them to score a single bucket until 5:23 left in the third quarter. Over the quarter as a whole, Tech's defense only allowed Oklahoma Baptist to score six total points.
From there, the Golden Suns continued to stay on the attack in the third quarter with good performance at the free throw line from Oglesby, Wagner and Wyrick as well as timely buckets from Bridges and Shipman that gave Arkansas Tech the 52-42 lead heading into the final quarter of action.
Heading into the fourth and final quarter of play, Tech looked to close out the game and collect another win on the road over the Bison. Oglesby found the first points of the quarter for Tech off a two-point jumper, while Bridges splashed a shot from three to hold a 57-48 lead over Oklahoma Baptist with 7:01 left to go in the fourth quarter.
Staying on the offensive attack, the Golden Suns continued to strike fast and hard inside with layups from Hill and Thompson that extended the lead out to double-digits once more at 63-51 with just under four minutes to play in the game.
Hill would dominate with her inside scoring in the fourth quarter making four of the last five shots from inside the paint for the Golden Suns. Two of those four shots would come on second chance opportunities from which Hill would collect the offensive rebound and put the shot back up for the bucket.
The Golden Suns shot 53.8% (7-for-13) as a team in the fourth quarter to close out the game strong. On defense, the Golden Suns allowed the Bison to score 10 total points in the fourth holding them to just 16 points for the entire second half to walk away with the strong 67-52 road win in Shawnee.
Individually, the Golden Suns would see four double-digit scorers on the night and would be led by a 20 point and 15 rebound double-double by Oglesby. Shipman was the next to hit double figures in scoring for Arkansas Tech with 11 points. Rounding out the leading scorers for the Golden Suns was Bridges and hill who eached put up 10 points in the win over the Bison.
Leading the defense for Tech was Thompson who finished with 10 total rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
The Golden Suns will stay on the road in Oklahoma for their next outing as they travel to Bethany, Okla. to face-off against Southern Nazarene. The game against the Crimson Storm is set for a 1 p.m. tip-off in Bethany on Saturday afternoon.
