BETHANY, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team put forth a remarkable effort on Saturday afternoon on the road and positioned themselves with an opportunity to do something that no one has done yet this season, beat Southern Nazarene. Unfortunately, the upset bid was not to be as nationally-ranked Southern Nazarene overcame Tech late and won, 71-67.
That aforementioned upset bid was very much a thing from the outset of the game as the Golden Suns took control of the game early. After scoring the game's first basket, the Golden Suns stayed in the lead for the entirety of the first half and carried a six-point lead into the locker room for halftime.
The great start to the game saw the Golden Suns out-score the unbeaten Crimson Storm 21-11 in the first quarter thanks, in part, to 62% shooting overall from the field (8-of-13) which included 3-of-4 success from long range. Conversely, the Golden Suns' defense held the Crimson Storm to just 15% shooting overall from the field (2-of-13) in the first quarter and 0-of-3 from the three-point line.
The third quarter was a virtual 180 from the first as SNU out-scored Tech 20-11 to take a three-point lead heading into the fourth. That quarter saw the Crimson Storm methodically work to trim the Tech lead, and by the 2:15 mark, gain their first lead of the game.
Quarter four was a back-and-forth fight that created a thrilling finish.
Through the first six minutes of so of that final period, the lead changed hands six times and during that stretch, neither team held a lead larger than a single point. That trend unfortunately changed at the 3:09 mark when SNU connected on a pair of free throws to break a 57-all tie.
The Golden Suns responded to that in a big way and quickly scored the next four points of the game on a pair of jumpers by
Hayleigh Wyrick to give themselves a two-point lead with 1:41 left. Not long after, the Crimson Storm got the lead back on a clutch three-pointer.
With 50 seconds left, Tech had tie the game once more, this time at 65-all, but on the ensuing trip down the floor, the Crimson Storm, with the 30-second shot clock nearing its expiration, connected on another three-pointer to give them the lead again.
The Golden Suns would pull within a point with 10 seconds left on a layup by
Dana Thompson, but SNU was then able put the game away at the free throw line, making 3-of-4 over the final 10 seconds.
For Tech, they had two players score in double figures and were led by Wyrick and her career-high 25 points. Coming off the bench, the sophomore native of Pearcy was 11-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from long range.
ClaraGrace Prater was the other Golden Sun in double figures as she herself had a career-high in scoring with 14. Prater was 5-of-10 from the field, 2-of-2 from the three-point line and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
The Golden Suns will look to bounce back this coming Thursday as they will be at home against Northwestern Oklahoma. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from Tucker Coliseum.
