RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team dropped their first home conference game of the season on Thursday night as they lost to Henderson State, 83-70.
Action was close throughout the first quarter with three lead changes, two tie scores and neither team leading by more than four points. With under two minutes left in the opening period, however, Henderson State rattled off a 6-0 burst to end the quarter and turn a one-point lead into a seven-point advantage, 25-18.
Throughout the second quarter, Henderson State pushed their lead out to double digits on a couple of occasions and eventually went into the locker room with a 10-point lead, 43-33.
The Golden Suns came out strong in the third quarter and quickly cut that deficit in half with a 5-0 scoring burst through the first two minutes of action. Tech continued to push matters and pulled within a point, 50-49, with 5:15 left in the third, but the Reddies had an immediate answer on the other end with an old-fashioned three-point play to go back up by four.
Near the end of the third quarter, the Golden Suns found themselves trailing by six, 61-55, but got a personal 4-0 run by freshman
Marleigh Sellars to pull within two points of the lead. The Reddies once more had an answer and got a layup as time expired in the period to take a four-point lead into the fourth.
The momentum from that last-second bucket carried over for the Reddies as they were able to control the fourth quarter and out-scored the Golden Suns by nine in the frame to give them the 13-point margin of victory.
The Golden Suns had four players score in double figures.
Julie Wagner and
Hayleigh Wyrick each scored 11 points to lead the team while
Dessie McCarty and
AbbiGrace Cunningham scored 10 points apiece to round out double-figure scoring. McCarty led the team in rebounds with eight while Wagner and Cunningham were next with seven.
The Golden Suns will look to bounce back when they take to the road on Saturday afternoon at Southern Arkansas. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
