FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team took to the road for the first time this season on Wednesday night and played at Arkansas-Fort Smith, continuing a new in-state rivalry. In that first road test, the Golden Suns proved resilient and had a monster fourth quarter to propel them to a 75-69 win.
The win moves the Golden Suns to 3-0 on the young season, marking the ninth time doing so under head coach
Dave Wilbers, who began his legendary career at Tech in 2007.
Against UAFS on Wednesday, the Golden Suns fell behind quickly as the Lions raced out to a 7-0 lead through the first two minutes of action in the first quarter. The Golden Suns would work their way back into the game and after trailing by that seven-point margin at the 6:15 mark, Tech went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes or so to take a five-point lead, 19-14.
Over the final three minutes of the first quarter, the lead changed hands twice as Tech carried a two-point lead into the second quarter.
UAFS once more got out to a quick start and used an 8-0 run to swing the lead in their favor by six, 29-23, with 8:17 left. This time, the Golden Suns could not regain a lead in the quarter but did not let the game get out of reach either. Trailing by seven with under 30 seconds prior to halftime, Shayln Lyle buried a three-pointer to make it a four-point game at the break.
The Lions would lead throughout the third quarter as well and even took a lead as large as nine points, 57-48, with just under two minutes left in the period. By the end of the third, UAFS had a seven-point lead, 59-52.
Unlike the previous two quarters, the fourth quarter was dominated from the outset by the Golden Suns. In a methodical breakdown fashion, the Golden Suns would go on a 12-1 run to take a four-point lead, 64-60, with 4:23 left on the clock.
Shortly thereafter, the Lions made their first field goal of the fourth quarter to pull within two points, but the Golden Suns would only continue to build on their lead, swelling it as high as seven points, 71-64, with 2:05 to play. The Lions would not go quietly and once more were within two points of the Tech lead, this time with just 40 seconds left.
The Golden Suns would be able to keep the Lions at bay from the free throw line down the stretch, making 4-of-6 to give them the 75-69 win.
That fourth quarter saw Tech out-score the Lions 23-10. Almost half of those points came at the free throw line as the Golden Suns were 11-of-15 in the final quarter. Overall, they were 21-of-28 for the game.
The Golden Suns had four players score in double figures with
Dessie Lancaster leading the way with a career-high 19 points. She was 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Next in scoring was
Logan Young. The freshman had 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting overall and was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Perina Leime had 11 points while Lyle rounded out double-figure scoring with 10.
Tech will now prepare for a home game next week as they welcome back former bitter rival Delta State to Tucker Coliseum. That game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off on Tuesday, November 25.
