SEARCY, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team fought valiantly on the road at consensus top-10 ranked Harding on Thursday night, but a 10-point first quarter deficit proved to be too much to overcome as Tech eventually fell by a score of 80-65.
That opening quarter of action saw Harding come out perfect from beyond the arc as they made all four of their attempts. Those threes accounted for half of their made field goals in the period. Leading wire-to-wire, the last of the Lady Bisons three-pointers in the first quarter pushed their lead out to double-digits for the first time with 1:24 remaining in the period.
Harding was not as potent from three-point range in the second quarter, but the Golden Suns were not able to do much in the way of cutting into the Harding lead despite shooting 44% from the field in the period (8-of-18). The Golden Suns were able to get the deficit within single digits and got as close as eight points of the lead on a trio of occasions, but Harding went into the break leading by 11.
After halftime, the Golden Suns came out quick in the third quarter and opened up on a quick 5-0 run to get within six points, 41-35.
Alex Hill accounted for four of those points on consecutive baskets in the paint. By the 7:38 mark, the Golden Suns got as close as five points on another layup by Hill.
Harding responded to the threat of their lead and worked to get it back to a 12-point advantage by the end of the third quarter.
That resurgence at the end of the third carried over to the fourth as Harding continued to build upon their lead. They would claim a lead as large as 18 points before ending with the 15-point margin of victory.
The Golden Suns had three players score in double figures and were led by
Hayleigh Wyrick and her 21-point effort. It was the second time this season that Wyrick has scored 20 or more points. Both instances have come against nationally-ranked opponents on the road as Wyrick previously scored 25 points against Southern Nazarene.
ClaraGrace Prater was next in scoring with 14 points while
Maisa Marcal rounded out double-figure scoring with 10.
The Golden Suns will now prepare for a Saturday afternoon road game at Ouachita Baptist. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Bill Vining Arena in Arkadelphia.
