RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team lost at home on Thursday night against Southwestern Oklahoma, 66-51.
In the game, Southwestern Oklahoma jumped out to a nine-point lead about halfway through the first quarter, 11-2. By the 1:32 mark of the opening period, however, the Golden Suns had pulled within two points, 11-9 as they went on a 7-0 run. The Bulldogs would snap the run shortly afterwards on a three-pointer to go up by five. That would be the margin heading into the second quarter.
By the 4:40 mark of the second, SWOSU had pushed their lead out to double digits, leading 27-17. Over the next two minutes or so of action, the Golden Suns had cut that deficit in half. In the final minute of the period, SWOSU once more pushed their lead out to 10 points, but would settle for an eight-point lead at the break thanks to a last-second jumper by
Andie Zylak.
Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, the Golden Suns had once more pulled within a possession of the lead, but SWOSU was able to stem the tide and by the 5:21 mark had gone back up by 10 points. The lead would get a large as 11 points in the period before the Lady Bulldogs ended the third with a 10-point lead, 50-40.
The Golden Suns were resilient in the early part of the fourth quarter and by the 6:35 mark were threatening as they had pulled within five points of the lead, 52-47. Unfortunately, SWOSU did not allow the Golden Suns to get any closer and eventually began to pull away as they ended the game with a 15-point margin of victory.
The Golden Suns had three players score in double figures and were led by
AbbiGrace Cunningham and her 13 points.
Julie Wagner and
Olivia Jones were next with 12 points apiece. Cunningham and Wagner tied for the team-lead in rebounds with six while Jones was 4-of-8 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point range.
Tech will now prepare for another home game this coming Saturday as they are set to host Northwestern Oklahoma. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
